The Shadows In The Dark
by Arianna Marilyn
Summary: Ciel prided himself on knowing a lot about the darkness of the world. But when a girl came with darkness of her own, he began to wonder if the darkness he knew is the only darkness there is.
1. Running Away

**There are human with powers equals to that of a demon and shinigami and sometime, even passing them. If helping each other will get Mikan anc Ciel getting what each other wants, then by all means, let's do it.**

**Discalimer: I dont own Gakuen Alice or Kuroshitsuji!

* * *

**

Two figures, one tall and the other short walked through the busy street of England. The shorter wore dark blue cloak that hid his body from top to bottom. He had an eye patch on his right eye, a tall hat on his head and a cane. Just a step behind him is the taller man that wore a coat that covered his neck till his ankles. The taller man wore black pants and was holding bags filled with things bought by the younger man.

When they arrived in front of a wealthy-looking toy shop, the shorter man—boy—slowed down his steps as he passed a little boy with his mother talking about the shop.

"Mama! Do you see this? This is the new plushy that the Phantom. Cop made! Mama, can I buy it! Please!" The little boy pointed his finger on a soft pink rabbit that was on the display case. The rabbit wore a blue navy shirt and white shorts. One of his eyes had an eye patch.

The mother shook her head and tried pulling the little boy away from the glass. "You can't Arthur! You already bought the last one didn't you? There's too much of those in your room. Last week you bought ten of those things. If this goes on, your room's going to be flooded with those things. Honestly, you like the company too much. . . "The mother trailed off. The boy, Arthur pouted but otherwise let his mother led him away but not without a longing look at the half-blind rabbit.

Unknown to them, the Short Boy smirked and the Tall man merely smiled.

* * *

"Sebastian, where is the file on the Winchester case?" asked the Short Boy. He had his head down as he looked over a thick pile of paper sitting on his desk.

Sebastian sighed as he poured tea for his master. "Young Master, did you forgot about the fact you ordered me to destroy it because it 'was stupid and annoying'?"

The boy 'tsk'ed. He massaged his forehead and sighed. "Well, I—"before he could finish, a black file was laid on his table far away from the cup of tea. He raised his head and glared and the smiling butler.

"Young Master, next time please do think before saying anything." The butler kept on smiling as the boy intensified his glare. It was a battle of will between the master and the butler. One would think the butler was rude not to lower down his gaze but to these two, that kind of manner is practically none existent.

Finally, the boy huffed and sniffed the tea made by the butler. "Hm. . . .smells nice," he reluctantly said. He tried to ignore the knowing smile the butler wore. After deciding the smells was acceptable, he took a sip. The taste of the Earl Grey tea tingles all of his senses. Again, he could feel the butler's knowing-smile on him.

While he slowly enjoys his afternoon tea, the butler placed a plate of blueberry cheese cake in front of Ciel, his master. Ciel said nothing and ate the cake slowly, savoring every little piece that went into his mouth. Because of this, it took him half an hour to finish that small piece of cake and finish his cup of tea.

After the afternoon snack, he went back to work, researching the Winchester case that was in front of his eyes again. The Winchester is one of the families in charge of one of his factories and the latest news stated they were sneaking some of those profit money into their pocket. Ciel massage his forehead. Why are all these rats so stupid? If they want to do a crime, don't make it so obvious.

"Sebastian, invite them as fast as you can. Tell them it's an afternoon lunch meeting."

"Yes, my lord."

How he hate rats.

* * *

"Mikan, this is your last warning. Surrender and come with me or something bad will happen to Youichi!"

The brunette glared at the blond in front of her. Her eyes were brown but judging by her face, it might as well turn red. "You stay away from Youichi, Narumi! _You_ stay away from _**all of them**_!"

The blond didn't scream back. It wouldn't do if he wanted to bring the girl to his side. "Mikan, you know I don't want to hurt him or Natsume, Ruka or Hotaru! I don't want to hurt anyone but running away is pointless, Mikan. At least for now, so please, come back. It'll only be a while longer and then you can have all the freedom you desire."

Mikan snorted at that. "That's what you said to us four years ago! That's what you said to us when you brought us to the hellhole! 'All the freedom you desire!' What a load of crap! You just want to use us and don't even deny it!" she added when she saw he was about to retort.

Narumi cursed in his head. He changed his expression to—hopefully—a pleading one. One that offers hope, false hope but hope nonetheless. "Mikan, please come back. We need you. Don't you want everyone to acknowledge you and you brother? Natsume and Ruka? Hotaru? Don't you want—"

Mikan cut him off with an angry snarl. "Don't you—don't you dare say that Narumi. Don't you dare say that when what you're thinking on achieving that is by using people instead of doing it the right way!"

Narumi was losing his temper. "Mikan, even if you run now, nobody will want you! Nobody will take you like we did!"

"I don't care, Narumi. I'll die before coming back to that hellhole." She turned around to start running but his next word froze her.

"If anything happens to Youichi or Hotaru in that 'hellhole', then you have only yourself to blame."

Mikan said nothing and made no move. Narumi saw Mikan's shoulder slumped and was ready to walk to her when he suddenly flew to the wall on his back. A crack appeared behind him. The dust wasn't gone yet but he knew, even without looking, she was already gone and knowing her, gone far enough it would be stupid to catch her by foot. Silently, he sighed.

Mikan ran away, not looking where she went. Not looking who she passed or the people that was staring at her white, hospital gown with suspicion. She didn't care. The only thing she cared was running as far as she could, hope nobody she knew was following her. She can take care of them, no problem but she wasn't interested in getting blood on her freshly washed white gown.

She wasn't particular on running away but she knew her friends and brother would be in fine with Narumi taking of them. Her memory suddenly went back to yesterday to her conversation with Narumi during one of their session.

"_Narumi, if I were to go away, do you promise you'll take care of Youichi? And Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru?" She didn't look at him when she spoke. Just stared at the white ceiling above her._

"_Mikan, you don't mean—"_

_She gaze upon him. Her eyes were pleading. "Please Narumi, your word that you'll protect them to your best ability."When she saw he was still hesitating, she added "Please."_

"_. . . .I promise."_

And then it was time for the acting. They had to act like Narumi was the bad guy so that whoever was watching them—there's always someone who's watching them—would trust Narumi and would think he was still on their side. It was hard, screaming at the guy she had come to think of as a father but she had to do it. Well, it was more like Natsume made her do it.

The thought of her best guy friend remind her of all the people she had left and it hurt her heart so she pushed the thought far away.

She continued to run and run, not caring if the feet beneath her were burning. She cursed not so silently. It'll be nice to use her power to move faster but there were too many people watching. If any of these normal people saw her using her people, she shuddered; the consequences would be….unpleasant.

After hours of walking/running, the sun dipped down. The sky was getting black. She has to find a place to rest soon and perhaps, if lucky, someone to give her some food. The street she was on was an open street but maybe because of the lack of people, it was pretty deserted except for some homeless people. She was in front of a gigantic mansion with high walls and gate. Very pointy, sharp, bleed-possible gates. She could go in there, no problem but that would be trespassing. She looked up at the darkening sky. Maybe just this one night. . . .

She took a deep breath and gathered wind at her feet. With just a single thought, the wind brought her beyond the gates. She looked left and right to check if anybody saw it. Nobody was looking shocked or awed or whatever it is so she must have done well. Noting there were no guard dogs around the main garden, she gathered up her night gown and silently ran towards the mansion while on alert for anything suspicious.

Like any fugitive, she didn't go straight for the main, giant door but opted for the back door. When she arrived there, she saw numerous destroyed ovens on her right and silently wondered what had happen. Thinking that she would probably never get an answer, she proceeded to opening the door at a very slow pace. When it was fully open, she checked the kitchen apparently. Nobody was in sight so she welcomed herself in. Immediately, she felt there was something wrong with the kitchen, like there was bad sense all over it. She knew from experience that trusting her instinct was always a good thing and took a few steps back till she was outside the door again.

"And what may a lovely lady like you doing here?"

She froze upon the silky voice at her back that clearly belonged to a man. Her eyes widened. A lot of things went through her head at that moment. Run and flee or stay and fight? Like just now, she wasn't in the mood to dirty her clothes even if it's for food and shelter. So run and flee then. She began gathering the winds at her feet when a pair of hand held her against another's body. Her waist was hold securely to ensure she couldn't run away and her mouth was covered by a hand. Screaming was out but that didn't matter. She didn't to need scream anyway.

Sebastian who was holding the brunette didn't wince when a cut suddenly appeared at his cheek but merely stayed in place. Blood trickled down his cheek to his lips. He absent mindedly licked it. The figure under his arm froze. "To be able to hurt without moving an inch, you must be something _other._" The tiny figure froze more if that was possible. Sebastian smirked. "You're not a demon since I could not sense a demonic aura from you. I do not smell _other _aura from you so you must be. . . human."

Mikan's eyebrow went up behind her bangs. He's going to find out, he's going to find out, he's going to find out, she keep chanting in her head. Her finger dug deep in her gown. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure she put on it. He's going to find out. With that thought in mind she did the only thing she knew what to do.

Bite the guy's hand and imagined the wind stabbing the guy from behind.

She heard flesh being sliced and silently scored! Judging from the guy dropping his arms it worked and the best part is, he moved several feet away from her. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and turned around facing her momentary-captor. He had a raven colored hair, wore a tail coat and a black pant. She couldn't tell what sort of eye color he had due to the dark. Underneath the coat are a white shirt and probably a vest and a black tie. He had a white glove on each hand and was wearing a smirk.

The thing that puzzled her was the fact he wasn't even down on his feet, writhing in pain or better, dead. How was that possible? She was sure to she had struck him, at least that's what she deduced from the blood that now stained his otherwise white shirt. Yet he didn't look a hair out of place and most of all, he was wearing a damn smirk.

"How?" she finally said when her voice came back to her.

He didn't answer and kept on smiling. Suddenly, she swore his eyes turned bright red for a moment there. "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, dear lady?"

As expected, she didn't say anything and. . . .flee. Again, she gathered the wind on her feet and jumped high on the roof. One of Sebastian's eye brows went up. He knew human were capable of jumping but not that high. When he saw the girl was about to run away, he too was about to jump on the roof when suddenly the girl slipped and fell. To the ground. Twenty feet from the roof.

It wasn't a surprise that she fainted.


	2. Open Threats

Mikan waking up then was not pretty.

When she opened her eyes, all she could see was a white ceiling. When she looked left, there was a wardrobe, when she looked right, there was a dressing table. Judging by how comfortable she was, she knew she was on a bed. Probably linen or cotton. Her favorites. Definitely, it was sweet except for one tiny detail.

She was tied.

_Tied_.

As in '_tied to the freaking bed' _kind of tied.

Her hands were tied together above her head and her legs were tied together to the front edge of the bed. The ropes were tight but not tight enough for her hands and leg to be blue. She raised her eyebrow. What had she done to deserve this? Then it hit her. Slowly, the memories of yesterday swim back to her head.

"_You stay away from all of them."_

"_And what may a lovely lady like you doing here?"_

"_How?"_

"Oh no. . .oh no, oh no. No, Natsume is going to kill me." She imagined smacking her hands to her face. What was she thinking going into the freaking mansion for shelter! She shouldn't have tried that stupid stunt! She should have just walked away, go to a safer and secluded place for shelter! Instead, she went into the mansion, got founded by some weird, creepy guy and tried to run away only to find herself slipping from a _roof_ and fainting. She wanted to bang her head against the wall for her stupidity. If Natsume were here, he would have let her go on with it.

In the midst of self-head-banging, she didn't hear the door creaking open nor the question.

"What's your name?"

Mikan snapped out of her mentally-self-induced-head-banging and found herself in the company of two men. Well, a guy and a kid are more appropriate. She didn't answer the kid's question. That was one of Natsume's rare advices. _Never give your name unless they give you theirs. _Instead, she went on to checking out her two visitors, better yet, captors.

The kid had an eye patch on his right eye which was weird and a little bit sad. Funny thing was he was wearing clothes that only a noble would wear plus he had a cane. A cane? Why would a noble kid who wears an eye patch own a cane? Shaking the question away for later—if there was later—, she went on to the tall guy beside the boy. The guy was wearing a kind of uniform but she didn't know what. It looked fancy so he must be an important servant, she mused. He wore a smile and his eyes were closed.

The boy let out an exasperated sigh. "I asked you a question." He sounded annoyed.

Mikan never did respond to annoyance well. "It's not polite to ask people for their name before giving yours, right?"

The boy gripped his cane tight before letting out another sigh. "My name is Ciel Phantomhive. What's yours?"

"Mikan. Mikan Sakura. And who's the guy beside you?" she asked, noting that not once had the servant been addressed.

The guy placed his hand on his chest and bowed. "My name is Sebastian Michealis and I am the head butler of this house, my lady." That explained the uniform. The man smiled and finally opened his eyes, revealing his red eyes. Oh no. . .she internally groaned. He was the guys from the other night!

"You're going to kill me aren't you?" Not letting them answer, she continued. "Well, I'm not going to take it lying down!" She took a deep breath and cut the ropes binding her with the wind. As soon as she felt the ropes snapped, she quickly jumped out of her bed. . . .only to fall back into it again when her brain suddenly pounded in her head. "Ah!" she exclaimed in pain. To prevent herself from falling down, she grabbed the nearest thing which was the bed's headboard.

Ciel sat back and merely watched the entire thing happen. He was surprised that the ropes were suddenly cut through but he'll be damn if he showed it. Sebastian had told her all he knew about their little guest but he thought the butler was lying. It was believable if it was a shinigami or a demon to posses such power but a human? A perfectly, normal-looking girl who couldn't possibly be more than twelve years old? It was simply impossible.

But it wasn't.

Well, he reasoned with himself, if there are demons, there's bound to be other things too, right?

Mikan put a hand on her head. There was a bandaged on her head so these people must have taken care of her. Well, that was nice of them, she thought. However, she wanted to believe that they were kind and nice but Natsume warn her before they part to never trust a stranger even if they're kind to you. Even if they whisper sweet things to you. Natsume's advice were the only thing keeping her alive all this years and hell will freeze before she stops following them. Slowly, her eyes drifted to the pair. Her vision was getting glassy from the pain but she forced herself to keep awake.

"You should get back to bed, miss. You've been unconscious for a few days. You have a severe injury to your head thus a concussion. The injury is probably making it hard for you to even think at the moment." The butler's words sounded worried but Mikan knew better even without Natsume's advice. People who wanted to use you always sounds like they're worrying about you when in fact all they want to do is use you.

"Let me go. If you don't I'll kill you and the boy." That's what she knew she could do but at the same time, couldn't do. Even with this power she has, she never killed someone unless she's really forced to. Besides, it was becoming harder to speak let alone use her powers. Her using power just now was forced, not eased out.

"We have no intention of hurting you or using you. We merely want to know you." Ciel saw a hint of sarcastic smirk on the girl's sweat-filled face. He wanted to scream in frustration but he knew she was on the edge of fainting. All he had to do was wait.

"Yeah right. _Get know me_. Please, I've heard that before and look where it used to get me?" the last part was barely a whisper. Ciel almost didn't hear it if it weren't because there was no other sound on the room.

A few moment of silence grew between them. It was becoming harder for Mikan to stay awake. Sebastian noticed this and stepped out from behind Ciel to moved closer to Mikan. She scowled and took a step away. This pattern repeated itself a few times until Mikan's back hit a furniture. A wardrobe if her memory serves right. She placed her hands at the wooded door of the furniture. Mikan scanned the room, searching for an escape exit, a window preferably. She didn't care that she looked like she was searching for an escape route. When she could find no windows, she cursed. The only escape would be through the doors behind the kid. "Great, just my luck," she muttered.

Sebastian watched the girl in sort of sadistic feeling as she began to panic. He smirked and moved closer to her till she was in arm's reach. He watched her as she desperately tries to find an escape route. He grinned and it wasn't one of those grinned he should be having. If asked, he'll admit to having fun when she flinched as he let out an arm towards her. "Miss, you should be resting."

She shook her head furiously. She wished she hadn't because now her head was throbbing even more. "No, you'll just tie me up again."

"We did that because of procedures. We have many enemies and it's not good if they got away." Sebastian tried to pull off the best pleading tone he had. Oh only if the tingling in his eyes would be gone then it would have been perfect.

The girl shook her head again. Ciel who had been watching the entire thing silently sigh. He crossed his arms on his chest and moved to stand beside Sebastian. "Sakura-san, I give you my word on the name of the Phantomhive that I will not hurt you while you stay here. Neither I nor my servants will. Now, will you rest?" He pull out a hand as Sebastian pulled in his.

Mikan stared at the pale hand with distrust. From the boy's tone, it was clear he wasn't joking and she could sense he was telling the truth. Slowly she moved over to him and grabbed his hands. Like on cue, her vision began to fade and the last thing she could hear was "Sleep well."

Sebastian watched from the sidelines as Ciel carried the girl back to the bed and covered her with the white blanket. This would normally look normally except for the fact he did it with surprising gentleness. Sebastian would have scoffed if he weren't too shocked. Of course, being the hell of a butler he is, he hid it well.

Ciel stared at the girl's face. She had a creased on her forehead, like she was remembering unpleasant thing. Without even thinking about it, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweats on her face. When he was done he was back to staring. Normally, he would have left her to Sebastian and went about his mountain of work but somehow, seeing the girl with all her defenses down gravitate him towards her. It was if his darkness and her-supposedly darkness knew each other. Like he could relate to each other. He quickly shook the thought away. It was unlike him to brood over such things.

Taking a last look at the girl, he turned to Sebastian. "Come, Sebastian."

"Yes, Young Master." Sebastian began following his master but stop when Ciel stopped at the door.

"And have Maylene change her clothes."

Sebastian was shocked by the—again—gentleness in his voice before smiling and bowing even although Ciel wouldn't see it. "Yes, my lord."

A few days later, while Ciel was about to start eating lunch, Maylene barged into the room. Sebastian didn't have time to reprimand her for the obvious rude gesture but Ciel beat him to it. "What is it, Maylene?"

"Sakura-sama has woken up!"

Ciel stared at Maylene who's clearly for an order. Ciel sighed. "Dress her and bring her here."

"Y-yes, Young Master!" She gave him a salute before exiting.

While waiting, Ciel didn't dive into the food in front of him. He was a gentleman and a gentleman waits for his guest even though said guess is probably planning on the best way to kill him. But damn if he wasn't tempted to sink his teeth into the chocolate mousse sitting innocently in front of him, just asking to be eaten. He groaned. He was about to pinch the bridge of his nose but the sound of the door creaking open snapped him awake.

"Master, Mikan-sama is here." Maylene's head peaked out from the small opening.

"Bring her in."

"Yes, Young Master."

The door opened a lot wider and enter Mikan Sakura. She was a completely different girl. Her head was tied in a low pony tail with a few strands of hair left at the sides of her face. She wore a rose pink dress which was fairly simple and not eye blinding except for the white lace at the bottom of the dress and the waist line. It looked a bit loose but otherwise fitted perfectly. It had been one of Elizabeth's normal dresses that she sometime leaves at the mansion. He noticed the girl looked a bit loss before Sebastian drew up a chair. "Sit, Sakura-san."

"Thank you." She sat down at the chair and actually gave a small smile to Ciel and Sebastian. Ciel quickly put down his head to hide his small hint of blush. When he was sure it was gone, he raised his head again.

"Would you like anything specific to eat?"

Mikan thought about it for a moment. At the facility—AKA the hellhole—she never really gets to choose. "I don't know. I've never been able to choose anything anyway."

Ciel was about to say something but Sebastian got there first. "Well Sakura-sama, why don't I bring you something of Phantomhive's specialty? Are you a vegetarian?"

"No."

"Is there anything you're allergic too? "

"Nuts. All type of nuts."

"Very well, I will come back with something. For now, please enjoy the Kairin tea we had just imported from China."

Mikan merely nodded and watch as Sebastian poured a cup of tea for her. She whispered a 'thank you' and then off Sebastian go. When he was gone, she went on to staring at the brown-ish color tea. The word poisoning came to mind.

"It's not poisoned," said Ciel when he saw the girl beside him stare into her cup.

Mikan gave a curt nod but wouldn't take a sip. Instead, she sniffed it for any suspicious smell. She had been trained to recognize the smell of poison. When there was no 'funny' smell as she likes to call it, she took a sip. Almost instantly the taste of bitter-sweet tea hit her taste bud. It there was no taste of poison so she went on to finishing the tea. She was done in a few seconds. The best thing was, even after it was all drained down her throat, it still left the aftertaste which was amazing. Unknown to her, her food had already been laid down in front of her. She snapped out of her daydream when Ciel cleared her throat. She swiftly looks left and right to see any signs of trouble but there was none. Only when she looked down did she notice the heavenly-looking beef. Her mouth instantly watered at the smell.

Sebastian gave a silent chuckled at the stricken expression the little girl was having and cleared his throat. "This is a roast beef with oyster sauce and a hint of lime. I can assure you the beef is from the best source and top quality. Please enjoy."

Mikan nodded. "Thank you for the food."

Ciel watched with satisfaction when she smiled while looking at the beef. However, he was shocked when the only utensil she picked up from the table was a fork. Then, the shock grew. One moment the beef was still intact and the next moment it was all cut up nicely. His mouth actually dropped a bit. He must have looked like a gaping fish but unsurprisingly, he didn't mind. All he could do was stared at the beef.

The beef was amazing when it hit Mikan's tongue. It was absolutely divine. She was at first lost in her little world but then she felt eyes staring at her. She looked up from the food and stared at Ciel who looked as if he was petrified. He wasn't even blinking which she knew must hurt a lot.

"Um, is there something wrong?" When there was no answer, she began waving her hands in front of his face. Worried was all over her face. When Ciel didn't response, she looked up to Sebastian who was standing behind her. "Sebastian-san, I think there's something wrong with Phantomhive-san. He looks like he just seen a ghost."

This time, Sebastian didn't get to answer. "It's okay Sakura-san, I was just a bit surprised." Ciel had a hand on his forehead as if he was tired. Why wouldn't he be? He just saw another living proof of Sebastian words. Really! This was not how a Phantomhive should be! He needed to stop being so shocked and get his act together.

"Are you surprised because I cut the beef without a knife?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay. Well, if you want to kill me because of it, you have to wait in line with the rest of the world. If you're trying to cut the line, well, I won't stop you but don't get mad if you leave with more than scratches." Without another word, she continued eating, all the while ignoring the stares she was getting from the two.

* * *

Reviews? If not, I might not come back! Kidding, kidding but seriously, review. . . . .because i'll be watching you. . . .= PS: sorry for the mountain of grammar error i know is there. I didn't have time to check! Please and thank you! xoxoxoxo


	3. Shout Your Heart Out

Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the reviews you guys have given me. I was supposed to update next week but because you all love me sooo much, I'm pushing it foward. Please and thank you. =)

Disclaimer: I DONT OWN GAKUEN ALICE OR KUROSHITSUJI!

"speech"

_"Flashback"_

Normal

* * *

The atmosphere inside the game room was pretty dark.

Ciel had proposed that they play a prototype board game from one of his companies while they 'talk'. He said it was still in a testing stage. Mikan had her eyes narrowed at him for the next five minutes. She didn't enjoy being a guinea pig concurred when he gave her that I-Don't-Care-Just-Go-Along-With-It face. Though since it wasn't anything that involved killing or hurting, she guessed she could live with it. Plus he said something about it as a payment for living in his house or something like that. She wasn't paying much attention at that part due to the god-given chocolate mousse Sebastian made. Really, the guy should be imprisoned for making such heavenly confections.

The game was called 'Stranger Danger' and was pretty dark because it contained thing like losing a leg hence you can only move have a step and things like that but she found that exciting. The thought though was enough to be disturbing but she shrugged the thought away. She had always had a sort of dark humor courtesy of two out of her three best friends ever since living at the Institution.

The board was placed on top of a small, round table between them which had them facing each other. Both of them sat on a one seater sofa. Sebastian was watching the whole thing with a quietness as expected from a butler when his master is having guess. Currently, it was Ciel's turn. Ciel rolled the dice on the board and it landed on the number '6'. He leaned foward to move the piece that looked like a tall hat.

"So, tell me everything."

Mikan rolled the dice. "What everything? Specify, please." Oh look, it landed on '6' as well. She smiled when it landed her on the column that forces the opponent to stop for a turn. She rolled the dice again.

Ciel raised his eyebrow in an arrogant/pissed way. "Start from when it all happen."

Mikan didn't raise her eyes from the board and let out a small sigh. "I can't remember much though."

"Never mind that."

She let out another small sigh and closed her eyes. She drew her legs up to her chest and hugged herself. She began.

"I lived in a mansion for sure before it happen. It was big and it was on the country side. It was somewhere on the outskirt of England." A fleeting image of her playing on the grass appeared in her head. "When I was a kid, I thought what I could do was magic. I could move things, jump extremely high and could cut things with just imagining it. I can't remember much of my childhood but I do know my parents could do it as well. My mom could disappear from one place to another in just a second and my dad had this sort of ability that can shield himself from me and my mom's power. When they found out I had a power too, they told me that it was a secret nobody could know."

_"Remember Mikan, if you people know about your magic then they'll take you away from us," said her mother on one evening._

_"Okay mommy!"_

"It was night when it happen."

_Five year old Mikan was wondering in the hall at sometime at midnight. It was raining cats and dogs. She clutched her teddy bear close to her chest. She had a nightmare and was afraid of the thunder and she wanted her mommy and daddy because only daddy and mommy can make bad feeling go away. Suddenly, a thunder struck out outside. Light shone for a brief moment on her. She quickly kneeled on the floor and cupped her ears. She didn't like the sound. Not at all. From the fear, tears fell._

_Unknown to her, a hand was creeping up at her. She cried and cried so hard it rang in the hall. Then, the hand fell on top Mikan's shoulder. She screamed. Her eyes went wide and she quickly jerked away from it. She turned around and found out it was actually one of the maids. Her name was Hanna. "Young Mistress, what are you doing out of bed at this late of night?"_

_Mikan ran into the maid's arms. __Her tear-filled eyes held onto the maid's. "I want to go Mommy and Daddy! I had a bad nightmare about bad people coming to get me! Please Hanna, please take me to their room! I'm scared! I'm so scared! Please Hanna, please..." Mikan hugged the maid tighter._

_Hanna petted the brunette's hair softly. "It's okay Young Mistress, I'll take you away to Mistress and Master now oka-" Blood suddenly came pouring out of Hanna's mouth and stomach and the maid fell to the floor._

_Mikan could only stare at her maid's body on the floor. Her hands were shaking. Red liquid slowly poured out on the floor and around Mikan and Hanna. She hesitantly touched the maid. "Hanna, what's wrong? Are you sick? Hanna?" she added with a weak voice. She moved her hand to the head. Mikan gasped away when she saw her hands were covered with warm, red liquid._

_B__lood._

_"Hanna?"_

_"She's dead."_

_Mikan turned her head to the voice. It came from the window that was open. Wasn't the window closed just now? Winds came swaying into the hall. It made her long hair swish around. Mikan got up though her legs were shaking and held her teddy bear tighter. She couldn't see anyone because it was so dark. It was midnight after all and she never really had the 20/20 vision. "Dead? What's dead?" she asked to nobody in sight._

_"Dead means she'll never come back."_

_Mikan could only react by raising her eyebrow before a sharp pain came to her neck._

Mikan raised her head from her knees and look to Ciel but he could tell she wasn't actually looking at him.

"After that I was taken to the Institution. It was there where the experimentation was done to people like me. 'Alice'. That was what they called our power. In the Institution, they told us we were born for greater good and we were there to learn how to control our power. Then they told us that one day soon, they were going to take over what was really our rights."

And then she laughed.

She laughed like a crazy maniac but soon the laugh dimmed till it was completely gone. "But almost everyone knew it was total bullshit." Mikan snorted and that motion raised an eyebrow from Ciel. "_**A**__****__lmost everyone_. The people there are literally divided to two groups. The 'Support' group and the 'Resistant' group. The Support group were the kids who've been through hell on earth because of their power enough that they agree with the Institution's ideal. They were the group you don't want to mess with because most of them had powers beyond your imagination."

"Then there were the 'Resistant' group. It's mainly the group of people who sent their whole life inside the place plotting to our freedom like me and my friends did. We couldn't do much most of them time because everyone was a forced to wear a limiter to control our power. Some of us who were is the Institution's bingo book had to wear devices that literally shocks them when they show signs of disobedient and trust me, they always know. So in the end, it took us a long time to hatch the perfect plan with of course some_ help._"

Ciel tilted his head to a side on the 'help' part but otherwise said nothing. Mikan, too warped in her story barely noticed any movement. She was inside her world now and in no way coming out soon.

"Finally came a week ago when one of my friends-" Mikan's voice was starting to break. It was obvious she was about to crack but she continued "-who had the ability to make almost anything with anything figured out a way around and through the limiter. There was no time for plan B. No time for hesitation. No time for second guessing. No time for anything and...so we fought. We fought with everything we got. We destroyed as many things as possible too." Then, her eyes darken with silent rage. "The Institution was surprised like hell when we rebelled and they weren't pleasant. They fought too. Hard. We had no choice but to struck for the kill. It was decided before that we'll try not to kill but we were fighting for our lives that day and they were ready to kill us so it was kinda like an eye for an eye. It was a war and it wasn't pretty."

Mikan let go of her knees and instead clutched her hair. Her fist were white. "There was blood everywhere. Bodies no matter where you go. It didn't matter if they were dead or not, they were still _on the floor with blood. _It took everything we got not to puke everything on the floor but we managed to destroy the barrier around the place and that's when we were attacked the _hardest_. I was too busy thinking how to fight them off and how escape, I didn't notice my friends were already starting to hold them back. For me."

The hand clutching her hand clutched so hard blood was seeping through the skin. It flowed from her head down her hair. Mikan's voice pitched higher, almost sounding hysterical now. Suddenly, she stood up and accidentally knock the board on the floor. "THEY WERE MY FRIENDS! THEY WERE MY FRIENDS AND THEY LIED TO ME! THEY TOLD ME THEY WERE COMING ALONG. THEY TOLD ME WE'LL BE ESCAPING TOGETHER BUT THEY DIDN'T! THEY DIDN'T AND THEY MIGHT BE DEAD FOR ALL I KNOW! I COULDN'T EVEN PROTECT MYSELF! THEY WERE MY **FRIENDS **AND **I LET THEM DOWN!" **She huffed for breath. Her chest were steadily rising up and down.

Ciel was taken aback when Mikan started shouting. Sebastian's face didn't say anything except of the widening eyes. Both of them were clearly lost for words. Both of them didn't know any words of consolation. All they could do was kept silent. Slowly, a pregnant pause broke inside the game room. Nobody said anything. Nobody knew what to say but it was clear that Ciel and Sebastian were waiting for Mikan to start talking again when she felt like it. That 'felt like it' turned out to be two minutes later. This time, there were no more shouting. Instead, she sounded tired.

"I let them down. We were supposed to get out together and I let them down..." Her shoulder shook. She place her head between her knees and quiet sobs were heard. It didn't stop for a long time.

* * *

Ciel looked down at the sleeping Mikan. He had Sebastian carry her to the long sofa inside the game room after she cried herself to sleep. He was really mad that she fell asleep just like that. He knew that crappy experience can make you tired. Even more so when you have to tell it to someone. He sighed. He's been sighing a lot these days. Then, an impulse came to him. It made him want to raise his hand and swipe away the leftover tears on her face. He was about to do it too when her eyes began to flutter open.

"Ciel?"

Ciel pulled his hand back. He cleared his throat and stared down at her. He didn't bother asking her how she felt 'cause that is definitely a stupid question. "Now what?"

Mikan didn't answer and instead stared at him. Her head was cleared from sleep and the memories of just now came up to her mind. Making up her mind about Ciel's question, she slowly got up from the sofa and the blanket covering her just now pooled at her ankle. Unknown to her, Ciel looked like he was barely holding back from pushing her to the sofa but when she stared at him again, his face was calm.

"When we made plans to attack, we made an agreement that if one us escapes, that person would try to run away as far he or she could. At first, we thought that it would be better if that person tried their very best to save us but we didn't even consider it. Nobody wanted anybody to come to the place."

Ciel nodded to himself. He suppose she was going to run-

"But I won't run. Not in a million years."

It was safe to say that his jaw dropped.

"I'm not going to run. Even if I have to die in the process, I'll save them. I'm only one person but I'll try. I'll try," she added but it sounded like it was for herself. Then, she glared at Ciel as if to contradict her.

Ciel could only stared at her glaring eyes. He saw no hesitation, no lied, no deceit. Why? "Why would you do that? They practically risk their lives for you and now you want to throw it away?" His voice was downright rude and cold but he couldn't have the space in his mind to care.

Mikan was taken aback by the question but she couldn't really be mad at him. It was natural for someone to ask that question. "I guess-" she said slowly, as if thinking every word carefully "-I don't have the heart or the strength to avoid the guilt that I know I would carry for the rest of my life if I ever turn my back on them. Plus if I ever turn my back on them, I'll always wonder what would or could have happen if I had tried to save the lives. That's my answer, I guess."

The unexpected happen next. Ciel laughed. He _laughed. _He laughed like a deranged patient who had just manage to escape from his wards. Sebastian who had been watching everything from the side was shocked. It was showing on every inch of his face but he quickly covered it with a smirk.

Mikan was too stunned by the cold laugh that she couldn't say anything. Anything she would have wanted to say just died in her mouth. It took a few seconds later for Ciel to stop laughing though he still had some left.

"Nice, Sakura-san. Very nice." Then the laugh died completely. Mikan felt the temperature went a few degrees downward when he pierced her with a look. "I usually don't care for such things but I'm interested. Show me you can do it. Show me you have the strength to persevere. Show me that you meant what you said." He nod his head at Sebastian and turned his back. Too bad he didn't get to see a determined smirk growing on her face.

Sebastian bowed to Ciel and then Mikan. "Miss Sakura, let me escort you to your room." To Ciel he said, "I will be with you shortly, Young Master."

Sebastian opened the door for Ciel and the aristocrat took no time in exiting the room. Mikan went next and was followed by Sebastian. Mikan walked through the hall and was in front of Sebastian thus she didn't see the demon's practically splitting from the wide smirk he wore and looked like it won't be gone soon.

The girl in front of him had made the infamous, wall flower Ciel Phantomhive _interested _at something. Even when doing his job or going through his revenge he was still never excited let alone _interested_. Only focus and determination. Sometime even hatred and disgusts but this newcomer had made his Young Master _interested _in something. It was truly...delicious. Sebastian unconsciously licked his lips. If what this little girl in front of him would do as she says, then he was in for an interesting show that would rid of his boredom that's been looming over his head ever since the curry contest ended.

He knew his master and him would be looking forward to see what happens next.

* * *

Finished! I wrote this in a rush so if there's any confusing info or stuff or something that just doesn't sound right in terms of grammar and again, info, please notify me! I hope you all enjoyed because the third chapter will be the _real _start of Mikan and possibly, Ciel's revenge.

READ AND REVIEW! PLEASE! THEY ARE WHAT MAKING ME GO ON! =


	4. The Cat Is Halfway Out Of The Bag

Hey guys! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the reviews you all gave me! I'm really estatic when I saw it and I hope you will support me in the coming chapters too! By the way, check out this one story I found while skimming through Gakuen Alice's fanfic. It's by Caramia Le Balcon and it's called Guild. It's really a nice story and I hope you guys go and check it out! =)

Disclaimer: I DONT OWN GAKUEN ALICE OR KUROSHITSUJI!

"speech"

_"Flashback"_

Normal

* * *

Mikan woke up early the next morning.

She woke up when the traces of the sun's light were next to nothing. She had a dream about the night she was kidnapped and after calming herself for a few moments, tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. She tried counting sheeps and all that but nothing worked. Finally sighing and resigning to the fact she won't be sleeping again any time soon, she got up from her king-sized bed and took a nice, hot bath. It was pure bliss, just sitting there in the hot water and soak up the vibe of it.

Ever since the 'talk' in the gaming room, Ciel had elevated her status from stranger to guest and apparently guests are treated like kings in the household. She was allowed to live in one of the guest quarter and even though she hasn't seen a lot of room yet, she knew her room was one of the best in the mansion. As she draws the bubbles close to her, she remembered the conversation she had with him yesterday after dinner.

_"From now on, you are my guest. However-"_

_Mikan cut him off really fast. "Is there anywhere in the mansion where it's private?"_

_"W-what?" Ciel was apparently stumbling over the fact that she had cut him off and was looking confused. Mikan sighed and repeated her words. Ciel slowly thought about it. "What for?"_

_"Well, if I want to go save my friends, I would have to train, don't I? I need somewhere where I could train secretly."_

_"I have a private clearing in the middle of a forest near the mansion. Is that good enough?"  
_

_"As long as nobody sees me." _

_"Nobody will see you. My house is quite far and away from the world. You could say it's a bit secluded from civilization."_

_Mikan breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been catastrophe if someone sees her practice. If someone does, she might have to kill them and that is not going to be easy. _

_Ciel, seeing that Mikan does not have anything else to say, gave a subtle cough for her attention. It worked. "Now, as I was saying before you cut me off -" she blushed at the statement "- you are here as my guest but that does not mean you will live here without doing something. I dislike people who live off other people."_

_That sounds reasonable. "Okay, sure. What do you want me to do?"_

_"Before I tell you that, I will have to tell you something else. I'll tell you later tomorrow. The night is getting pretty late and judging by what has happened today, I can guess you and I need some rest." Ciel began to get up from the chair and walked towards the door._

_Mikan followed his lead and shrugged. She doesn't mind waiting and he was right. Now that she has food in her stomach, her eyelids were getting heavier by the minute. When Sebastian showed her to her new sleeping quarters, she didn't even bother to look around. All she saw was the bed and nothing else. Her shoes weren't even off when she hit the sack and slept._

Mikan sighed. Guess today she'll know the things she's supposed to know.

As she got up from the tempting bathtub, she thought about one of the girls in the Institution who had the power of seeing the future. Her name was Alice and though she was weird, she was powerful. She could tell the future up to three weeks ahead. That was something totally unheard off in the Institution but like every power like hers, there was a catch with her powers. She claimed the future changes a lot when people change their decision. In the back of Mikan's mind, she wonders what is Alice is seeing of her right now. Will she die in the minute? Will she be captured soon? So many things sat in her mind while she clothes herself. Absent-mindedly, she put on one of Ciel's clothes that Meyrin had given her yesterday after dinner. Originally, Ciel had wanted her to wear dresses. He said it was only to be expected from a lady to wear all those death-dress as she likes to call it - she swore she saw a glint in his eyes when he said it- but she outright refused it. She didn't like wearing dresses because it was so hard to move in. Besides, she's planning to train in the time she's here and a dress doesn't strike her as _comfortable _and _durable_.

When she was done tying her hair to a high pony tail, she went off to the rose gardens Sebastian had passingly showed her yesterday. Looking at the place, she guessed that white roses seems to be Ciel's favorite since the place was filled with it. Every single white petal looked simply beautiful in the morning with some water drops still attached to the petals. She recalled Natsume calling them 'morning dew' or was it 'lily drew'? She honestly can't remember it much, it had been so long ago. Plus, the memory was tied to an... _unpleasant_ memory. She sighed. She could still remember it till this day.

It had been one of the earlier years of living in the Institution. Mikan was about eight or probably nine. The day had been pretty normal, for the place at least, and she had missed playing with flowers. The Institution rarely had flowers outside of their greenhouse so she grew restless. Usually, she would put such desires as it brings nothing but pain to her but on that day, the thought wouldn't leave her head. Nobody could blame her. Once you were in the Institution, most experience you had outside is practically stripped away or at least locked away. Finally, on that day's evening, she decided to sneak inside the greenhouse with her friends. Needless to say, the normal morning turned to be one of the most horrible experience living there.

Shivering from the memory rather than the coldness of the morning, Mikan went back inside and was immediately greeted by Sebastian.

"Good morning, Miss Sakura. I see you're up early today."

"Yeah. Couldn't sleep."

"Would you like me to prepare you an early breakfast?"

Mikan shrugged. "If you don't mind."

"I do not mind in the slightest, Miss Sakura. Come." Sebastian lead her to the kitchen. When she entered, she sat on one of the high stool facing a table while he put on a half-body apron.

"What would you prefer, Miss Sakura? Bread or scones?"

Mikan thought about it for a moment. "What are scones? Is it good?" Mikan had never had scones before in her life and even if she has, she probably wouldn't remember it's name or even remember eating it.

"Scones are, in general sense, a small British quick bread. It originated from Scotland. As to the taste, that depends on you. Some do not like it and some do."

"Hm...well, I'll have both then. If I don't like scones, I'll move on to bread."

"Very well, Miss Sakura."

And so off went Sebastian to prepare breakfast, leaving Mikan the perfect opportunity to see him in action. What she saw amazed her to the point she thinks she can watch him do it forever and still not get bored. The way he moves in the kitchen simply phenomenal, like it was his territory. He knew where everything was and the way he made the dough and everything was perfect. She had rarely see people cooking - the Institution but she knew he was close to perfect. That fact was definitely odd. How did he learn to cook so good? Hold on, wasn't the _chef_ suppose cook? If she remembers correctly, Sebastian is the butler. Then why is Sebastian doing the cooking? Was he a butler/cook? So many questions were swimming in her head till she didn't notice Sebastian had already lay out a plate of butter, bread and scones and was already pouring tea for her.

"Today's tea is cream tea. It is also known as Devonshire or Cornea tea in some areas.. It is commonly known as the perfect tea to drink while eating scones. I hope you enjoy." He stepped back and watched her as she ate slowly taste the scones. Her movement was slow at first but it got faster when she thought the scones were as good as any breakfast she has ever had. She was seriously beginning to think that whatever Sebastian made tasted delicious.

Sebastian who stared at her as she eats noticed her wearing the Young Master's clothes again. He waits for her to swallow the scones before voicing his question. "Miss Sakura, forgive me but is the dresses in the mansion does not suit your taste? You seem to be wearing the Young Master's clothes again, I see."

Mikan thought about how to answer his question. It was fairly an easy question but somehow, it seemed hard to answer. "I...like his clothes. It's very free and not death-constricting like wearing dresses. Beside, I was planning to train anyway starting today if it's good and dresses are not really what I had in mind." With that said, she went on to finishing the scones and was about to move on to the bread since it would be rude not to finish it all when Sebastian's words stopped her.

"Then why do you not wear the gardener's, Finny's clothes for today? My masters clothes seems to be the perfect size for you but I hardly think it's the perfect clothes for whatever training you will be having."

Mikan nodded her head. "That's true and Meyrin did showed me the gardener's clothes but it was too big for me. The sleeves were too long and it reached my ankle. That would prove problems for when I'm training. Finally, we decided that Ciel's clothes was the closest to my size. Now that you mention it Sebastian, can I ask you a favor?"

"If it does not endager the well being of my master then please, go right ahead and say it."

Mikan chuckled at the comment. "No, no. Don't worry. It's not something death threatening. I was just wondering if we could go out to town today and get me some clothes. I'm prepare to work for it."

Sebastian was the one who chuckled next. "I don't think you'll be needing to do that but for reassurence, why don't we ask the Young Master when he comes down for breakfast. Speaking of coming down, I believe it is time for me to wake the Young Master."

Mikan began to get up from her chair. "Oh, okay then. I guess I'll go up to my room."

"That won't be necessary."

Two head swirled around to the voice behind them. There leaning against the door stood Ciel Phantomhive, dressed but in a weird fashion and had his arms crossed on his chest. He was wearing an oversized shirt that went up down to his knees and the eye patch was gone but you still can't see the eye due to the bangs. Mikan was shocked seeing him...so _normal. _Usually he looks as if he's king of the world or at least the mansionso seeing him so normal striked something in her but all those were nothing compare to Sebastian. Sebastian was somewhere between shocked to the core and simply couldn't say a word. It was _perfectly understandable_ for a perfect butler like him. Ciel never wakes up before he wakes him up thus seeing him waking up on his own was truly amazing.

"Young Master, how very nice of you to wake up before I have to do it for you." Sebastian had a weird, creepy smile on his face and Mikan wasn't sure what to think about it. Ciel however was perfectly sure what to think of it.

A vein popped on his forehead. "Quiet butler."

The smile was still there and Mikan could swear she felt the temperature dropped a few degrees. She sweat dropped. Looks like this won't be stopping for a while so she decides to back off from the tension between the master and the servant and began to get out of the danger zone when suddenly, Ciel's voice stopped her.

"Miss Sakura, about the thing that I wanted to talk to you yesterday, mayhap we can discuss it over breakfast after I have dressed properly of course."

Mikan shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind." and off she went off to the garden again instead of her room. She couldn't get enough of the sight of the flowers blooming so beautifully. Maybe later when Sebastian is free she can ask him how he does it. Mikan doesn't know why but she got the feeling Sebastian had been the one to take care of the roses and not the gardener. When she got to the garden, she saw a boy with his back to her and were crouching in the middle of the roses.

"Hello. What are you doing?"

The greeting suprised the boy causing him to stand up abruptly hence hitting her. She stumbled onto the ground and rubbed her forehead. "Ow...that's definitely hurts...ow..."

The boy franticly look right and left for any signs of damage to the roses and breathed a sigh of relief when there was none. It was only then he noticed a girl? sitting on some of the roses. "Oh my goodness. I am so sorry! Please forgive me." He let out a helping hand and Mikan took it. She pat the dirt off her trousers and stared at the boy.

He has a blond hair, green eyes and was wearing a straw hat, gardening gloves and looked to be inches taller than her. Compared to her, the boy looked massive. "Hello. I'm Mikan Sakura! You're Finny right?"

The boy nodded his head vigorously. "That's what they call me. My real name is actually Finnian but you're most welcome to call me Finny, sir!"

Mikan raised an eyebrow. Did she look that much like a boy? "I'm sorry. You must be _really _mistaken. I'm not a boy though I am wearing boy's clothes."

Finny looked like he had committed the worst crime ever. "Oh I'm so sorry! It's just that, with the clothes and all, I thought you looked like a guy! Please forgive me!" He bowed his head repeatedly and wouldn't listen to Mikan protest. Finally, when she couldn't handle the bowing anymore she decides to stop his head mid-air and made him stare into his eyes.

"Please stop it. I don't like it when people say sorry too much."

His eyes were big and tears began to pool in his eyes. He quickly wiped it away and gave Mikan a huge smile. She gave a huge smile too. "Well, if that's resolve, why don't we go inside and see if Ciel's already finished freshing up from his sleep, yeah?"

Finny grinned and the both of them walked towards the dining hall where they're met with an eating Ciel and solemn Sebastian. There were also two other people standing in the sidelines, watching Ciel eats. One was Meyrin but the other one was a total mystery to her. Personally, Mikan thought it was odd for them to be watching other people eat but didn't comment on it. Instead, she commented on the guy besides Meyrin. "Hello sir. I'm Mikan Sakura! What's your name?"

The guy looked shocked she was speaking to him and she wonder why is that. Was he shy? "Oh sorry. My name's Bard and I'm the chef of this household." He then gave a huge grin to her that she happily return.

"Oh, so you must be the guy that cooked Ciel's breakfast, right?"

Bard said nothing to that. Instead he looked away, clearly fidgeting under Mikan's stare who was waiting for his answer. The both of them were like that for a while when Ciel suddenly told Mikan to sit beside him and for the others to leave. Mikan gave a last look at Bard before going to sit beside Ciel. When the servants have all exited besides Sebastian, Ciel put down the napkin used to wiped the edges of his lips. "Miss Sakura-"

"Please call Mikan. Miss Sakura sounds so formal after all this time."

Ciel looks annoyed on her cutting him off but shrugged off the feeling. "As I was saying yesterday, I will now tell you some part about this mansion and the people in it but first you have swear secrecy. Swear that whatever is said in this room stays in the room except when I say it's not. Is that clear?"

"Totally."

Ciel was suprised by the fast answer but said nothing about it. "Very well. To start it off, in this world there are the Upperworld and the Underworld. Both world have rules that both sides have to obey. There are some people who are respected in the Upperworld are feared in the Underworld. They are known as the Evil Nobleman. I myself are one of them and I act as the Queen's Guard Dog. My job is to eradicate the Queen's worry and does whatever it is that she orders me to. This job have been passed down from my previous generations. Do you understand so far?"

Mikan bit her lip and nodded slowly. "I think I do. So basically you're the police of the Underworld?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Oh okay then. Is that way your servant smells like gunpowder?"

The room turned quiet. Mikan raised an eyebrow. Did she say something bad? She glanced at Ciel and he looked absolutely, positively shocked. His eyes were wide like yesterday when she made the decision to save her friends. Why was he shocked? Was it because she accused his servant of smelling like gun powder? Oh no! What if it was wrong? What if she just accused Ciel of having murderers as his servants? "I'm so sorry, Ciel! I'm sorry for saying that. Maybe your servants just happen to smell like gun powder, yeah?" She tried to console him but even she knows you don't just _happen _to smell like gun powders.

Ciel, finally shaking out of his momentary shocked, shook his head. "No, it's okay. You're right. My servants do smell like gun powders because that is their true and main job." When Mikan looked like she wasn't understanding that part, he said, "My servants main job is to protect the pride and the secret of the Phantomhive from unwanted..._rats_."

Mikan's mouth went 'O'. She nodded her head to herself. So the servants really were assasins? She wasn't sure what to think of it. Killing someone is bad but what if your killing someone to protect someone? Will that justify the killing? Then, she stared at her hands. She knew her hands had been soiled with blood and it's not the most pleasant thing ever but she did it to protect her friends. Was that okay? Was that acceptable?

"Mikan, are you okay?"

Mikan raised her head and stared at Ciel who was looking at her with a subtle, worried face. She tried to put on her best smile. "Yeah. I'm fine. I was just soaking up the information."

Ciel looked like he wasn't believing any of it but decided to let go of it. "Very well. Now that I have told you that, I will now tell you your job." Ciel saw her straighten up her back and was in full ready-for-action mode. "Your job is to help me and Sebastian during my missions and it doesn't matter if it's the Queen's mission or not. No if, and or buts. Nothing. Is that clear?"

"Yes. Totally clear."

"Good. Well I'm going to the town now. You may stay here and train as Sebastian have told me you wished to train immediately." Ciel didn't notice Mikan who looked like she was going to ask something and just started to get up from his chair, fully ready to exit the room when he suddenly stopped at Sebastian's words.

"Young Master, I was wondering if it would be okay for Miss Sakura to come along and buy some clothes? Finnian's clothes are too big for her and wearing your clothes all the time are not...wise, Young Master."

Ciel then turned around and stared at her for a moment but it was enough to make Mikan fidget under his stare. Finally, he nodded and said, "Very well. Come along Mikan. We shall buy you some clothes that I hope will be to your liking."

Mikan nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

So that is the 4th chapter! Due to the massive grammar error, I am looking for a Beta. The condition's are;

a) When I sent the documents, it has to be sent back to me in four days.

b) You are not a some psycho path who's plan is to sabotage my work.

c) Don't kill me if I update late because I am on hell of a lazy person.

That is all! Please review. To review, just click the button down here! I'll be waiting. =)


	5. Did Somebody Ordered Coffins?

Hey people! How are you today? This is the 5th chapter of this story as so far I'm liking the amount of review if you guys love me, please review more because any writer in fanfiction know how much a review really means. Without further ado, I pass the stage to Mikan, Sebastian, Ciel and a character I personally think is so awesome.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU'RE THE FBI

DO BRING POPCORNS WHEN YOU READ.

NO SPELLING OR GRAMMAR ERROR CHECKED.

ENJOY. . . . .

**Disclaimer: I do not and never will be owning Kuroshitsuji and Gakuen Alice. Thank you! =D**

* * *

Mikan threw her hands in the air. "I give up! I have absolutely no idea what I'm searching for and I am giving up. Right. Now."

When nobody said anything to her little outburst, she huffed.

It's been an hour since they had been inside the Scotland Yard file's room -illegally, of course- and the rest of the time, she and Sebastian had been searching for clues on a case by the Queen. She wasn't told to search for clues, only Sebastian was but she volunteered anyway and looking back, she was beginning to regret that choice. When this all started, she was excited about the case since it would be her first but it all changed after three minutes of being inside the old and _dusty_ room. The frantic detective, Abberline whom she came to realize was a very good-bad-they're-different kind of guy didn't help either with the pressure with his moaning and shrieking at Ciel.

"Please forgive me but if the commissioner finds out about this-" he tried again for the umpteenth time.

"It's better if he doesn't." Ciel cuts him again for the umpteenth time.

Abberline acted as if he didn't hear any of that. He shot his hand to an opened window and shrieked, "How did you get into the third floor room?"

Mikan suddenly whistled and wouldn't meet Aberline's suspicious eyes that were clearly staring at her suddenly odd behavior. After a moment of scrutinizing her, he turned back to Ciel who was ignoring him, again.

"How does it look, Sebastian?" he asked his servant.

Mikan didn't hear Sebastian's answer as she decided her nose was starting to itch and it was time to get out of the place. Not caring about any spectators from inside the room, she jumped. In a fleeting moment she thought she heard Abberline screaming "Bloody murder!" What else could she do except chuckle? When her feet touched the solid ground, she instantly scanned the bustling crowd in front of her and noticed nobody was giving her weird looks so all in all, it was all good...

While waiting for her two masters -yes, she came to acknowledge Sebastian is somewhat her master-, her mind drifted away to yesterday when everything was less interesting.

* * *

-Yesterday-

After breakfast as promised, Mikan went with Ciel and Sebastian to the town to buy her some clothes and buy Ciel some stuffs she, frankly, don't want to know about.

The trip, in the kindest way possible, was scary and borderline nightmare-ish.

There were hundreds of people on the street. Mens, kids, women, even cats and dogs. Loads of people were pushing each other out of the way and some were even cursing -this shocked her s she thought rich people don't do that in public- and once, she caught Ciel muttering 'this is stupid' and glaring at the rest of the world. She couldn't blame him. She was about to lose it herself. When she was pushed one more time by some fat guy, she finally decides to ask Sebastian what made today the day people just had to be pushy.

"It's christmas shopping. People are most probably buying their loved ones some early shopping."

"Oh."

Christmas.

How time fly so fast. Ever since she was taken away, she had always celebrated with her friends there at the Institution for christmas no longer having the parents and sometime, servants to celebrate it with...In the Institution wasn't very welcoming about any sort of holiday so the most they did was throw a dinner for them. For Mikan and her friends, though a bit tense and awkward being around with their tormentor while pretending they weren't experimenting on them, the party was always welcome and was always the one thing they all look forward to each year. This year would be the first year she would celebrate without them. She wonders how the others were doing.

Had they been punished?

Are they safe?

Is everyone -including an annoying girl named Permy- alright?

That thought put a stop on her track.

"Mikan, what are you doing standing in the middle of the crowd? It wouldn't do any of us any good if you're lost." Ciel gave her a look of his shoulder that she couldn't describe but before she could determine what it was, he turned his head and walked back towards the place they were heading. Sebastian also gave her a look over his shoulder but didn't abandon her. Mikan appreciated that and silently, the two of them resumed walking.

Ten minutes later, she _finally_ reached the shop that sells some children's clothes, formal and not. Though a tad bit dramatic, she nearly cried of relief. Soon, the relief went off. Quick. The shop keeper, a brunette named Helen told her she was adorable and insisted she tries out all the girl clothes. She wanted to scream 'no freaking way, over my dead body' but apparently in her book, resistance is futile and will never be taken well. Finally, seeing Helen puppy-dog-face, which was pretty low because she could never resist it, she complied. In the midst of craziness named 'trying-out-clothes-simply-because-you're-cute', she didn't notice Ciel and Sebastian walked away from the store.

An hour which equals to many, _many_ clothes later, she noticed they were gone. Her first instinct was to scream and run as far as possible because those clothes she decided to buy were not cheap. Before she could act on the thought, Sebastian and Ciel arrived with a small packaged in the little boy's hand.

"Why did you leave me alone?" Mikan asked. Her hands were on her waist and she looked like she meant business.

Ciel smirked. "Had a good time?"

Sebastian intervened before Mikan could attack Ciel like he knew she would. "Young Master, I believe it is time for us to head back to the mansion. I fear the house may be destroyed while we're gone and lunch has not been prepared yet."

Ciel slightly pouted. "You take away my fun."

Sebastian gave him a yes-I-did smile. Mikan simply blinked her eyes and said nothing.

They got out of the shop later after Ciel payed for everything -she nearly died when she saw the huge numbers- with Sebastian holding out the door for them along with several bags hanged to his arms. The trip back home was swift and silent. When they arrived, Sebastian got out of the carriage first and gave her a hand to get down from it and finally Ciel. He grumbled silently of that. Once the wooden door was closed, Sebastian called out to Finny who was 'walking' around the house.

"Finny, bring these bags to Miss Sakura's room."

"Yes, Mister Sebastian."

Mikan immediately wanted to help the boy because those bags did not look light but Finny insisted he was fine on his own. Mikan doubted that but that changed when she saw him holding all those bags to her room with an insanely-giant smile on his face. She conceded that the people in the house were really not as they seem. Meanwhile, Sebastian announced he would be starting preparing for lunch. He didn't even walked a step from Ciel and Mikan when Mikan and Maylene collated with each other. Both fell to the floor.

"Oh! I'm s-s-s-sorry, M-m-miss S-Sakura!"

Mikan absentmindedly rubbed her butt. She winced when her hand passed a certain spot. Ouch, that was going to bruise by tomorrow morning. "It's okay, Maylene. I'm fine."

Nobody, even Ciel believed the lie but nobody commented on it. Sebastian cleared his throat and it successfully gained the maid's attention. "Maylene, what is so urgent you had to run to us?" Sebastian gave her 'the' look.

Maylene obviously knew what 'the' look was and quickly took out a letter from her apron. She handed it to Ciel. "Young Master, the Queen's butler, John sent it. He says it's an urgent matter that cannot be delayed no matter what."

Ciel and Mikan raised an eyebrow. Mikan watched as Ciel slid his finger through the red,seal wax and opened in a slow and careful motion. Mikan surprised him -unknowingly- by putting her head on his shoulder.

"G-Get off me." He instantly regretted his voice was shaking and his face felt hot but noticing Mikan didn't pay any attention to it, he cleared his throat and spoke the letter's word.

_To my cute little boy_

She certainly didn't miss the grumble coming out of his mouth.

_How was your christmas? I made pudding with Philip. It was a big thing and even John and Grey praised it. Next time, you'll try it too, won't you? In any case, this time, I've enclosed this letter with a ticket. Did you know a traveling circus has come to London? Apparently, they have been to various places but somehow, in each city they performed, a number of children have disappeared. The government are searching to their utmost ability but the children's whereabout are yet unknown. Apparently, the children disappeared in the middle of the night...really, it's as though they have been kidnapped by the Pipe Piper of Hamelin. _

_The unbearable sadness of being separated from their family...I am asking you to return them to their families as soon as possible. _

_Victoria_

_

* * *

_

So that's what happen. As soon as Ciel finished reading the letter, he ordered Sebastian to prepare their trip to London and left her to do her business. The next day, they were already on their way here.

When she heard the letter, she saw red.

The idea of people kidnapping children turned a switch on in her. She was a victim of it and so was half the kids in the Institution so they know, _she_ knows the pain of being taken away from the people you love. You'll always wonder how they are, how the outside world, when are you going back home and so on. That added with the pain of sometime not knowing where you are and -goodness forbid- your captor is a sick person, it wasn't a surprise she nearly destroyed the forest Ciel gave her to train in. Now, she's determined to bring the bastard who's kidnapping all these kids to justice or at least buried nicely six-feet underground.

That last one was pretty tempting.

"Mikan, we're going." Ciel's command snapped her out of her rage. She quickly got to him and got inside the carriage with Sebastian right behind her. As soon as they all were inside, the carriage driver closed the door and soon they were off to wherever. Then, they did their own business. Ciel was rereading the letter from the Queen, Sebastian was looking out the window and Mikan were staring at the wooden floor. Nobody said anything. After a minute in the carriage, she decided the air was too tense -in a strangely subtle way- and immediately felt the need to change that. "So, Ciel, what did you found out about the case?"

Ciel stayed quiet so Sebastian took the job of answering her question. "In the upper world, no children have been reported dying."

Mikan shot a huge smile to Ciel. "Ciel, that's great! The children-"

"-still could be dead," he cut her off.

The smile faltered. "What do you mean by that?"

Ciel sighed. He wasn't happy sharing this information. "Usually, in a case like this, children do not die in the Upper world. They die in the Underworld. If the kidnapper killed those children, he wouldn't be stupid enough to published it to the Upper world. Instead, he would kill them in the Underworld where nobody would know, nobody would care, nobody would be there to witness anything." His voice was grim towards the end.

Silence soon filled the trip. The whole thing was beginning to feel like they would be spaced by silenced.

* * *

"Ciel, what in the world you have gotten me into here?"

The building in front her really put a whole new definition to shady. It looked old and she guessed it _was_ old judging from the cracks and holes on it. From the wall, she proceeded to examined the grounds. On her left, there were one or two slightly-opened coffins against the wall and on her right there were more coffins but this time with a sort of ball-thingy on the ground that she could swear looked like a skull. Finally, she looked up and instantly wished she hadn't. There was a huge 'Undertaker' sign on top of her head with a gigantic skull in the middle that looked suspiciously authentic. Small part of her brain wondered where he got it but then abandon the question. Some question are best left alone.

"Ciel, exactly where are we? You're not planning to bury me are you?" It was meant as a joke with a smirk on her face but all that showed and heard was her deadpanned voice and her blank stare which was still fixed at the huge sign on top of her.

"Don't be ridiculous. If I wanted to kill you, Sebastian could hide the body better than Undertaker can."

Mikan ignore the last part. "Who is Undertaker and why are we here? You still haven't answered that question you know."

"We are here because he is the man that most probably has information on the case." Without another word, he gave a short tilt of the head as a sign for Sebastian to opened the door. Once it was open, light came inside the dark, grim room. Ciel looked around him slowly as he came in. "Are you here? Undertaker, are you here?" he called out.

Suddenly, a deep voice was heard. "He, he, he. . . Wel~come, Earl." Mikan who was standing beside Ciel clutched his shirt and out of nowhere, a skull came rolling on the ground, passing the two and hitting a stack of small tomb stones. All three visitor could only blink and turned their heads to the thrower. Mikan, despite being slightly afraid of whatever she was about to see -her story about undertakers from Hotaru wasn't exactly comforting- peaked from behind Ciel's shoulder and took a look.

The man was...odd. He wore a black overall with a tall hat on his head. There was a a gray scarf across his chest which was knotted by his hip. His hair was long and gray with some tied to a braid. she couldn't see his eyes from the long bags covering it but she could a see a long scar across his face. She wonders idly where that came from. Upon seeing all this, she slowly stepped beside Ciel but still has an arm clutched to his.

"Well, have a seat. I've just baked a cake. And who is the lady here?" He pointed a finger at her.

"My name is Mikan Sakura, Mr..."

Underaker chuckled. "Call me Undertaker. Everybody does."

Mikan resisted asking 'why?'. "O...kay then."

Undertaker gave another chuckled for some reason and waved his hand in front of him. "As I've said, take a seat." He went on to sitting on a chair behind his counter and grabbed a jar of cookies.

Mikan and Ciel looked around them. There were no chairs around the room. There were only coffins all over the place. Sighing, Ciel pulled Mikan's arm and drover her to one of the coffins and inclined her to seat on him. Seeing no where else where possible, she sat down. Ciel followed her move.

"So-" he paused to munched the bone shaped cookie "-children's corpses...hm..."

"The surface world has not yet found the missing corpses, it seems," Sebastian cuts him off.

Undertaker knew what Sebastian had meant by those words. "And in the underworld, children's corpses are in everyday occurrence, after all which the earl knows ve~~~ry well doesn't he?" Undertaker gave the boy a smirk which was replied with a glare from said boy. From his side, Ciel could sense Mikan's questioning gaze on him but he wasn't about to tell her his past anytime soon. No, he had not trust her that much yet.

_Why do you not? She told you her secret. Why not tell her yours? She won't be able to tell anyone anyway. _A small voice in his head whispered.

Ciel internally frowned. _It is not easy to relieve my dark past to a stranger. . . _

_Is she a stranger?_

For that he had no answer. Pushing the thought away for some other time, he cleared his throat. "We've brought you the documents. Are there any of these children you've 'tidied up' amongst them?" He gave a look to Sebastian which the butler understood. Sebastian took out a stack of papers from his coat and handed it over to Undertaker.

The Undertaker placed his chin on the table and gave a huge smile. He held up one paper in front of him. "I wonder~~~were they here~~~If I saw something, I think I'll remember~~~A first rate laugh~~~if you do tha~~~t, I'll tell you a~nything you want~~~You understand don't you, Earl? You'll have to give me 'that'." Now, the Undertaker had moved from his chair and instead stick his face in front of Ciel's and later leaning over the desk. Mikan clearly saw Ciel palled up and Undertaker drooling.

Ignoring the gossebumps on her arms and necks, she asked, "Sir, why do you charge people with laugh? I mean, judging from what Ciel said about you knowing most about the case, you must be an informer and therefor, why do you charge your service with a first-rate laugh?"

Undertaker gave a grin to Ciel. "Oh, Earl, you praised me? How swe~et of you to do that. As for your question, little lady, I do not like Queen Victoria. In fact, I can honestly say I hate her at some point. She stands on her throne while the Earl and others do her dirty work. Thus I do not accept her money. If anybody wants my help, all I ask is a first-rate laugh. Do whatever you want, tell the best joke you think you have in you sleeves, make the weirdest moves you've ever moved, all I ask is that you make, me, laugh." He ended his little 'speech' with a little bow. It was nice except for the fact he was still drooling and it was falling to the floor.

She willed her hardest to forget the image. Forever till the end on eternity.

Ciel cleared his throat again when Undertaker focused back his attention on him and the fact that his long, bony fingers were near his face. "Sebastian."

Sebastian took this as a sign -when has he ever not?-. He pulled back his gloves and straightened it. "Then-"

Undertaker tilted his head and gave a weird laugh. "Hm...you're going to rely on him again? Gufufu...I wonder if the butler isn't here, is the Earl just a child that can't do anything?" And off he went back to leaning his upper half body against the counter top. "Though if it's amusing...I don't care who it is." This was followed by another creepy laugh which Mikan soon would be calling 'The Undertaker Laugh".

_How original _she thought.

Ciel seemed like he was imagining something and a dark aura quickly surrounded them. "I'll do it."

"You'll do it?" both Mikan and Sebastian asked.

Ciel gave them the best glare he could muster and pointed a finger at them. "Don't, You, Dare, Peek."

"Yes."

"Yes, my lord."

And just like that, they were thrown outside. Morning turned to afternoon which turned to evening and finally the night. Both Mikan and Sebastian stood outside the building the whole. Mikan's feet were starting to kill her. She wasn't used to wearing hard-base shoes. In the Institution, they were given slippers with their names on it thus standing half a day with the shoes really weren't helping the situation.

"Miss Sakura, are you alright?" Sebastian peeked at her from the corner of his eyes, body still unmoving (How does he does that!)

"I'm alright. This is nothing." Truly, this was nothing.

Sebastian was about to say something but then came the 'Undertaker Laugh." The door swirled open and both of the servant took a chance to peek into the situation.

Mikan was baffled by Ciel's appearance. His coat was completely gone, his sleeves were folded to the elbows, his hair was a mess and he was sweating a lot. All in all, he did not look like the Ciel Phantomhive, sometime arrogant bastard that she has come to know of.

Sebastian sighed looking at the pitiful state of his master but began helping him put on his coat and settling down his hair. "What on earth did you do?"

Ciel gave an annoyed twitch of the eye. "Don't ask."

_It had been embarrassing enough doing that, no way in hell I'm telling_, he thought.

Sebastian smirked and his eyes were shadowed by his bangs. "But for the sake of the Queen, you'll perform and even do this kind of things." The eyes shows up again and this time, it glinted. "You really are a _dog_."

"_Shut the hell up_."

While these things were happening, Mikan was sitting on an empty stool, body leaning to the counter with Undertaker beside her as they both watch everything that's happening between the two with bone shaped cookies in their mouth. Mikan watched it all with a blank look while Undertaker watched it with an amused look. At least, that's what it looks like. It was hard to tell without the eyes.

"Hey, Undertaker, how long have you known them?"

Undertaker took another cookie from the jar. "Why do you ask?"

Mikan gave a shrug. "Curious. I haven't been with him for a long time and even then I know he's not the type to rely on someone unless he really has to. But you know, if that's the case, then I wonder why he relies on Sebastian so much?" Mikan losed track of the world for a moment and pondered on that. Why was it that someone like Ciel who is arrogant beyond believe, similar to Natsume, can rely on Sebastian so much? She can see that, though nothing has confirmed her theory yet, Ciel seems to think that Sebastian was his everything.

Odd.

Outside her own little world, Undertaker watched the little lady was silently thinking about something. Well, she wasn't the only one thinking things here. Ciel Phantomhive as he know him is a boy who basically lost everything in a single night and came out of it all with a hardened hard and empty eyes. After the terrible fire that burned his family to the ground, he accepted no one into his life except that mysterious butler and now, after three years, he looks to have accepted another one. It was so easy to see it in how he had not flinched or pushed her away when she clutched onto him. How fascinating it is to see it in just one moment. How odd. How very odd and how very interesting this all is. Undertaken then chuckled.

"Miss Sakura, from now on till the eternity, I will give you a discount."

Mikan flew away from la la land when the voice of Undertaker hit her. "On what?"

"Information. Help. Anything."

Mikan gave him a skeptical look. "And why would you do that?"

"Because you have amused me. Simple."

She was about to say something more but Ciel interrupted. Mikan and Undertaker turned to look at the now refreshed Earl. "There, I gave you your reward. Now tell me about the children."

He place his elbows on the counter and put his chin on his folded hands. "There aren't any."

Mikan turned from Ciel to Undertaker. "_What?_" Sebastian and Ciel opted for a more civilized reaction. "Huh?"

Undertaker gave a look at few of the paper that Sebastian gave earlier. "None of these children's are my clients and I haven't heard any rumor among the under world companies."

Ciel sweat dropped. "So that's means you know nothing about the case?" Mikan secretly agreed with the accusation.

"That's not it. I know that 'I don't know' anything." Even if she didn't see it, she could sense a huge grin was plastered on his face.

"You decieved me?" Mikan could hear the well-masked anger beneath the calm facade.

"I didn't deceive you. It's a great clue, don't you think so?"

Mikan whose brain was acting fast today caught and so did Sebastian. "Certainly, you knowing nothing about the case means there's no truth to the children being murdered by the under world companies," said the butler.

"Hold on, that means they could still be alive!" She threw her hands up in the air. Mikan was close to jumping up and down. After a day of relentless pursuit, well sorta of, they finally find something! And the best of all, they found out the kids are still alive.

Ciel gave a short look and nodded. "If corpses haven't been showing in the upper or under world then there's a high probability the children's still alive. Does this means we have no choice but to examine this circus firsthand. Come along, Mikan. We must go now."

Mikan stood up from the chair behind the counter and walked towards the boy. Midway, she turned to Undertaker and gave him a low bow. "Thank you for your kindness. I will hold it forever."

Undertaker waved it away. "It is not kindness, child. I only did it because you amuse me, nothing more."

"Even so, thank you." She turned back and continued walking to Ciel's sides.

By the time they reached the door, Undertaker spoke again. "Keep you soul safe at least, Earl~"

Ciel raised an eyebrow questioningly at him ."I know that."

The door closed and Undertaker chuckled. "I rea~~ly won~~der."

* * *

I've done the best I can and plus I didn't do a proof read so you've been warned. Thank you for managing to read this and I hope you would review. I really would. Please and thank you.


	6. Let The Show Begin!

Sorry guys I haven't updated in a long while! I was on a trip -France can you believe it!- and there were limited computer interaction plus Im suuuuper busy with school's exam and music exam, it all just kept coming so I hope you guys would forgive me. I hope this chapter -even though it's not proof read- will satisfy you urges for now.

Presenting the 6th; Let The Show Begin!

* * *

A raven hair boy boy bit back a curse as the needle went into his skin. He bit his lips harder when the meds started to kick in into his system. The doctor who had gave him that shot tap the fresh wound with not so subtle force. "You may go now." It was a command hidden in suggestion. Natsume snorted at that and wasted no more time in walking out of the door and moving into the recreation room. Natsume snorted again. If by recreation meant no television, no-nonsense book, only a carpet and some sofa, then it was 'recreation'.

When Natsume walked inside the room, there were people in it. Some sat on the sofa, some chose to sit at the floor on their tummies. He walked to an empty seat between a blue-eyed blond and a huge silver dog. The blond made looked up from his book as a heavy weight settled beside him. He sighed seeing at the face made by the raven-hair boy and decided to put down the book on his lap. "Did it hurt that bad, Natsume?"

"No more than the usual, Ruka." Under his petting, the dog, Pluto grumbled. Natsume let out a small smile.

Then, the door opened, revealing a deep purple color hair girl that looked like she meant trouble. She walked in the room with an air of suppressed anger and stop in front of the raven boy. "Hyuuga, it's been days. We have to make our move soon before the Upper finds out." Like a sign, the rest of the occupant of the room dropped whatever they were doing which wasn't much and walked toward the three. They all formed a circle with Natsume the leader. Natsume kept petting Pluto's soft fur but now it was a bit slower and rougher. Everyone held their breaths.

"We can't. You know why, Imai."

Hotaru Imai knew why, of course. Ever since their last attempt to get out, the Upper had been doing some..._changes_. "I know full well but we can't sit here and do nothing. The idiot is out there on her own. She knows almost nothing of the world-"

Suddenly her cold eyes was met with a blazing glare. "Do you think I don't know that, Imai?" he spitted out. He knew damn well that the love of his life is out there, probably on her own and lost as she was thrown back into the world after years of being caged. "Even with all that, we don't have much power anymore. Plus you still haven't gotten around this stupid cuffs." Almost instantly all eyes were on their hands. On all of their right wrist was a bangled clenching perfectly on the wrist making it not big enough for a finger, let alone a hand to to pass through it yet not cutting the blood ciruclation. It's color was silver marking it as one of the new 'changes'.

Ruka was the only whose eyes still glued to Natsume's face. He place an hand on the raven's arm and was glad it wasn't pushed away. "Natsume, Hotaru, everyone, this is not the time for us to execute our rebellion on them. The changes they make changes everything of our original plan thus making it useless and as far as I know, we don't have a second plan. All we have is nothing right now. Not to mention half of us are on tight watch_."_

Beside him, Ruka detected the slightest squirm from the raven.

Hotaru however was not happy in the slightest of the direction of the conversation. Her eyes were fast on Ruka's. "Bunny boy, did you not hear me?" Suddenly, the room temperature went down significantly.

"I heard you, love but now is not the time to fight back. I know all of us are dying to go out and find her and be free but we are without plan." When Hotaru and some other began to open their mouth to fight back, he continued, "Our last plan is gone now that they've put this bangled on our wrist, Hotaru and you know it. They are watching us closer this time and unlike last time, any use of power without authorization will immediately activate a needle in these bangles and will put us into sleep."

The room fell into silent. Hotaru glared at her boyfriend but it wasn't returned when Ruka looked down on the white, fur carpet. Then, with a heavy sigh, he opened his book again and said nothing when the door slammed.

* * *

Mikan, Ciel and Sebastian had arrived at the scene of the circus. It was packed with people and naturally, Mikan began to cower into Ciel's back as she avoided anybody hitting her but just like in London, that was pretty hard to do since, again, there were a lot of people and kids were running around like monkeys on steroids. "Ciel, I don't like it here..." she whined.

Ciel grabbed Mikan's hand and dragged her from his back to his side. Sebastian raised an eyebrow on that but said nothing. "I don't like it either but we have to do this. We have to-"

"-infiltrate our enemy's site and observe and decide the next move. Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time." Mikan had been given this speech in the carriage on their way here and though it was given only once, she was already getting sick of it. Come to think of it, she was never a good listener. More of a visual learner.

Ciel slapped the back of her head and ignored her whining as they all entered the camp of the show. On their way to their seats, they passed a food vendor. Originally AKA on their way here, all they wanted to do was get to their seats as fast as they could, finish this whole thing without any mishaps and hopefully find the children and get a good night's sleep and while Ciel kept that unspoken promised, Mikan...well...she didn't.

"Ciel, Ciel! What are those cotton thing! They're pink! What is it, I want it! I want it, I want it! Tell me what is it because I want it!" Mikan was jumping up and down now while her finger was pointed directly at the wrapped, pink cotton held by some kind of tall holder. Mikan wasn't very good with words hence the lack of knowledge of those holder...thing-y. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her acting like those kids she saw on their way in.

Ciel looked at what she was pointing and definately-not-immediately drooled a bit. "They're cotton candies..." he trailed off. Those things...it had been such a long time since...

Suddenly, a pair of sky blue eyes and hazel brow eyes stared at the butler. "Sebastian," they both said. Both hopeful pair of eyes stared into the butler's. Sebastian stared at them back and then to the cotton candy and then back to them. He repeated the action again before deciding.

"I will go and get it for you two. Stay here while I do." Sebastian went off to purchase it for the two needy kids but Mikan wasn't having it. She has no idea why but she wanted the thing called cotton candy so bad she levitated three of those things -two for her and one for Ciel- towards her. No one was watching them so this made her even more needy and desperate but inches before the things fall into her hands, it was intercepted. Ciel who had been watching and Mikan who had been levitating glared at the perpetrator.

An innocent smile shone on the butler's face. "Stealing is wrong. Desperate or not. However, though I disapprove of this, I find myself do not minding the little lady but _you_ Young Master, I had thought you had far more..._dignity_ than this."

Said Young Master's glare intensified. "Shut up." Then he went on to mumbling, "I haven't had one of those in a while..."

Sebastian chuckled and hidden it by turning his back on the two children as he paid for it. Then, off he go back to the kids and handing two to Mikan and one for Ciel. Surprisingly, Ciel didn't object to the fact he got less and to the fact his hand was still attached to Mikan's. Well, it didn't really matter since Mikan didn't notice it too but Sebastian did and something inside of him stirred. Pushing the alien feeling aside, he motioned for them to stop trying to unwrap the cotton candies and proceeded to their seat. Despite the warning, one of the cotton candy was already gone from Mikan's hand by the time the got to their seat. As they sat down on their seat, two pair of eyes stared at her.

Mikan, the idiot she was, didn't realize this and continued to eat the second one without hesitation while waiting for the show to commence. The cotton candy was so good that even Ciel didn't say anything to the lack of reaction. In their defense to this odd behaviour, the thing was so good and soft and yummy they had to stop their eyes from rolling back. At least Ciel did. Mikan went ahead like there was nothing but her and the cotton candy. When her's and his were done, both had a sunken look on their face. Not so surprisingly, both pair of eyes stared again into the butler's.

"I will not."

Glares.

"Cavities, little children."

"Sebastian, I order you to purchase some more for us after this."

This was moments later backed up with Mikan's insistent nods.

Sigh. "Of course, Young Master."

A smile and a nonchalant face turns up. With an inner rolling eyes, he motioned for them to centre stage as the show began. The room darken and light shone on centre stage. A man wearing a cape stood in the middle of it. "Ladies and gentleman! Boys and girls of all ages! Welcome to the Noah's Ark Circus!" Then the man began to juggle balls and he continued introducing himself. "My name is Joker! If you'll look here-whoops!" He had missed catching the balls and they all fell onto his head. The whole crowd laughed except Ciel and Sebastian. Gathering himself back, the man said, "The whole circus is jostling to give you a fun show!"

Mikan and the crowd clap to that and soon the show began with a man spitting fire. Mikan was amazed by this. The excitement didn't dull down as the show goes on with all kinds of act. Some made her laugh and some just made her plain scared of the entertainer's life. In the middle of all of this, she heard Sebastian said there were no signs of the kidnapped children.

"If they don't intend to make a show of the children, perhaps the movement of the circus and the disappearance of the children is nothing but coincidence?" Ciel deduced from the lack of kidnapped children on the stage that was bustling with people doing their acts in turns. Mikan's heart swoon at this. This made her even more excited and even made her screaming for an encore. Finally, the show was coming to an end. Everyone 'aww'ed but the ringmaster -Sebastian had mentioned it offhandedly of the cap-wearing-guy- smiled and told everyone of the star of the show, an animal tamer.

A woman holding a whip came in and was certainly in a very revealing clothing that left very little to the imagination. Mikan blushed at the woman's very obvious clevage and proceeded to blocking the view with her hands. Ciel who sat beside her snickered. Without even having to look, she used the wind to stumble him off his seat. Hand still attached to her eyes, she didn't see him sitting back into his seat and glaring at her. Sebastian who naturally saw all this merely chuckled and gently lowered down Mikan's hand.

"Miss Mikan, you must watch this. It may be vital."

Mikan glared at Sebastian but didn't move to cover her eyes. "I may not be an adult yet but even I know there is nothing vital to this."

"Well, yes but you never know. It might be important later on."

"Whatever," she brushed it off in a very Ciel-ish way. Dang. Not even a month has pass and already she's acting like him? That was definately...not welcomed.

On the stage, a tiger in caged was brought into the picture and was soon let out. The crowd shuddered but that didn't stop them from sitting at the edge of their seat. The tiger walked? to the ringmaster as stayed there. "For this act we would like a volunteer from the audience!"

Ciel stared at the tiger with disinterest clearly in his eyes. "It appears that the final show also has no connection to the children. No matter how you look at it, this is a waste of ti-" he stopped when suddenly Sebastian stood. Mikan noticed this and her eyes went up to the butler. "What's the matter? Did you find something?"

Then, out of nowhere, light shone directly on Sebastian and the finger's of the ringmaster pointed at him. "That really distinguished man in the tailcoat! Please step on to the stage now! Come on down!"

'What?'

Was what the two little kids were thinking.

Despite his shock, Ciel kept his cool and gave a hard look at Sebastian and commanded him to go. Sebastian replied with a simple 'Yes'. In the little lord's head, he wonders how is his butler going investigate with all these spectators watching them. Mikan had more or less the same thought as they both watched him go down the the stairs and coming up to the stage. When Sebastian finally got there, the ringmaster asked him to lied on one of the 'beds' but Sebastian ignored him and instead found himself kneeling in front of the tiger and cupping its huge face with his hands.

"Ahh...such round eyes..." Sebastian continued to coon the tiger.

'Huh?'

Was what Mikan had thought while Ciel and the rest of the crowd thought;

'Ah!'

And at that moment, all Ciel wanted to do was pound his head into the nearest wall for not remembering the fact that tigers are cats and Sebastian in an obsessed, crazy and slightly possessive cat lover!

"Ciel, I know this is stupid but is Sebastian, y'know, touched in the head?" Mikan asked. Her eyes were still fixed on the shocking image in front of her.

His too still haven't moved from the scene fate laid in front of him. "He's a cat lover."

Mikan's face dawned at that. "Well, at least his not that bad into it."

Ciel finally took his eyes from Sebastian and spared a moment to look at the brunette beside him. "What do you mean by that?"

Said brunette suddenly took the moment as a sign to look up to see if the camp's ceiling is good or not. After that, she went on to checking her left, her down and even her back. Never her left. The little lord knew she had said something she shouldn't have and thought time to pushing her for information was not then. Later, maybe.

Back to the center stage, Sebastian continued to ignore the rest of the world and stared deep into the tiger's eyes. "I've never seen such vividly-striped ears. How lovely. What's this? It seems your claws had grown a bit too long. To not be groomed...Your paw pads to are exceedingly plum and charming."

_Chomp_.

Sebastian's head had just been swallowed by the tiger. Many things happen then. The crowd screamed, Mikan too but with a louder voice, the sexy-lady animal tamer got mad and screamed the tiger's name -Betty- and was about to whip her when suddenly, it was caught. Everyone looked to see the perpetrator. They even stupidly looked up even though a minute later they all realized the stupidity of that. Alas, it turns out the one who caught it was Sebastian and his head was now safely out of the tiger's mouth. Somehow, that sounded so wrong. Meanwhile, the sexy-lady animal tamer stared into Sebastian's back with shock written all over her beautiful face.

When the crowd had settled down, Sebastian said with loud and booming voice, "She did not do anything wrong. In the face of such loveliness, I was unintentionally rude. And beside that, if you simply recklessly swing the whip, you will never be able to train her." By now, Sebastian was full face with the sexy-lady animal tamer and he had a devilish look on his face all the while he spoke. The sexy-lady animal tamer gripped the handle of the whip and looked like she at something bad. Really bad. Then-

_Chomp._

"Oh my~ what a tomboy~"

"EEEK! GYAAAA! AHHHHH!"

Needless to say, to avoid any more screaming, all three of them went out of the camp. On their way out, Mikan could swear she saw Sebastian cried a little when he had to say goodbye to the tiger. Though that can't be possible, right? Shaking the thought away, they began to walk their way to their carriage which was parked near the circus area and during that, they passed a lot of vendor that Mikan had finally got the time to see clearly (she couldn't really see it just now because of the monkeys on steroids, remember?). In the time Mikan's attention was solely for the vendors, Ciel decided it was time to give his butler 'The Talk'.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD GO THAT FAR?"

Surprisingly Mikan didn't heard that.

Sebastian who was still bent on being sad suddenly turned happy with a happy-gaze-y face on him. "Forgive me. I've lived for such a long time but it's only cats fickle emotion that I still do not understand..."

"What were you thinking going that fa-ACHOO!"

This time Mikan noticed and threw a worried gaze at Ciel. She was about to ask if he was getting a cold but then Ciel screamed, "YOU KNOW I'M ALLERGIC TO CAT! WALK FURTHER BACK!"

"Yes sir."

Soon they were back on track but then they stopped again. This time because Ciel 'insisted' he heard a giggle. Straining his ear, he listened harder. Three seconds later, he found himself staring at the ginggling girl beside him who made no move to hide it.

_Giggle_.

Mikan could feel two pair of eyes staring at her -one was particularly intense- and giggled again. "Sorry, can't help it. The idea of Ciel being allergic to cat is so cute."

Ciel gave Mikan an incredulous stare. Mikan giggled more before finally stopping herself -forcefully- and straightened up her back. "Oh well, come on. I'm hungry so you better buy me dinner. Hold on, no, I don't want you to buy me dinner. I want Sebastian to cook me dinner." Without waiting for any replies or perhaps denials, she strolled again. She even whistled though it sounded weird to her ears and this made her stop not long after she started. A smile crossed her face as she was joined by a smiling Sebastian and a grumbling Ciel.

Back to ignoring the rest of the world, she spied every single vendor from the corner of her eyes. Nothing caught her attention yet till she walked in front a vendor that was selling candies that she had never seen before. To anybody, it would have been the most normal thing in the world but for her, it was simply magnificent. Hence, she was just about to run away from Ciel to check out that vendor when all of a sudden, her heart felt the strongest '**_pang_**' yet. It was strong and somewhat uncomfortable. A strange feeling hit her at that same moment. It was cold and sweet. It felt like it was temptation yet dangerous if you get close to it. The feeling grew stronger and stronger till finally it dawned on her. That feeling, it felt so familiar. It felt like...

"It felt like an Alice."

Ciel glanced at Mikan who had suddenly stopped and stared at her feet. "What?"

Without any notice or sign, her head snapped up and she took off full speed towards the other side of the circus, far, far away from the carriage. In just moments, she was gone leaving only the scent of her newly shampooed hair. Ciel could only stared dumbly at the empty spot beside him. What had just happen? 'That girl took off like a fire was chasing her up her skirt' he thought. He then wanted to order Sebastian to go see what was wrong when a voice spoke from far behind them.

"Ah! There you are! Hold on a sec!"

Ciel turned around to see the ringmaster AKA the Joker jogging up to them. Feeling like it wasn't the best time to reveal his relationship with Sebastian, he ran away and hid behind the vendor with the candies Mikan was checking out earlier. Even though he had already had cotton candies, those apple candy looked like sin. Slapping himself a bit, he went back to looking at Sebastian. Judging from his distance with the now face-to-face Sebastian and the Joker, the Joker didn't look like he realized a boy running away. Silently, he watched and the thought of Mikan left him.

"I'm really sorry earlier."

Sebastian gave a forgiving smile at the Joker. "No, my apologies instead."

"I was so surprised when you suddenly got close to the tiger. You okay from the bite? Anyways, we've got a special doctor and I was thinking he should really check you out. C'mon round to the back."

_This is it! This is our chance! _

Ciel didn't even have to give orders to Sebastian for the butler to do the next obvious move.

"In that case, I will."

* * *

By following the feeling, Mikan stumbled upon an alley and without caring of the obvious trap, she went in. At first sight, nobody was there but now that the memory of that feeling was coming back to her, she knew better.

"Come out you coward! I know you're there!"

No replies came for her. She bit back a curse and waited. She didn't have to wait long apparently when a figure formed in front of her. It was a man and wore a suit. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was on a date.

"What brings you here, Persona? Came to take me back, are you? Well, I won't make it easy!" Mustering every energy she had in her, she called up the wind to form a sphere on her open palm and shoot arrows of it at the figure, Persona. None of it got him though. She clenched her free palm and hard it could. It was always like this! No matter what she does, ever since forever, she had never been able to hit Persona. It was like the man was a ghost.

"Is that the best you got,? No matter. We have given you enough time for your little holiday and now it is time to come back. Once you have come back, we will resume training again. Come." He waited ad if expecting.

Mikan scoffed. Did he really think she would go just like that after all that had happen? After her friends practically gave up their life for her? "Fat chance, Persona. I'm not going back there but mark my words, when it's time, I'll come back and I _will_ take down all of you! _Every single one of you!_"

Persona sneered. "Foolish DI01. Do you-"

"Don't call me that! Don't call me that! Don't call me that!" She began throwing arrows of air again at him but like last time, none hit him. They didn't even touched him!

Persona's sneer turned to smirk. "Why? Does it remind you of something?"

She didn't want to listen to his taunting voice inside her head. She didn't want to see the flashes of memories in her head. She didn't want to remember the scary memories."

"Does it remind you of the rooms?"

But she did anyway.

_Scary rooms more and more._

"Does it remind you of the mirrors?"

_Endless mirrors every single day._

_"_Does it remind you of the medicines?"

_Bitter medicines every hour._

"Does it remind you of the needle?"

_Sharp needles every moment._

"Does it remind you of the color?"

_White..._

_All white._

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Every corner of that alley at that moment began to crack as her screams grew louder. Every windows that were ever plastered on the walls shattered to million pieces. Every trees that were a kilometer radius from the alley was shredded to nothing. Persona's smirk got bigger at the insane reaction as he dodged any incoming attacks which was a lot. With Mikan's power so out of control, so crazy, everything was dangerous.

"Do you think you can escape us forever, DI01? You have better chance killing yourself if that was the case."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"

"I will not but for now I will. Remember the choice you made here today, DI01. Remember that." He then disappeared with the wind following him. The shattered alley was now silent and was bare of any wind. The next thing she knew, she heard a voice calling for her name and fell into the darkness that was welcoming her with open arms.

* * *

So this is it! The 6th chapter! I didn't really proof read it so...well...if you're seeing this you could already guess that I didn't. Oh well, reviews, reviews! because I simply love them and they're what kept me keep on writing. Bon voyage and see you later.

Next on Shadows In The Dark: **Another Girl.**

_"We are the same."_


	7. The Awaken Identity

Guys! I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR TWO MONTHS! I had drama competition, school exams and anoyying teachers to handle these days. It's pretty stressful. Okay, I won't say much. Here it goes! The 7th Chapter!

**I DON'T OWN KUROSHITSUJI OR GAKUEN ALICE. COMPRENDO?**

* * *

Ciel stared. He stared into the little girl's face that was currently asleep and seemed calm; almost like the whole world –at least hers—was at peace. Truthfully, it was nice to look at her now when she was less pale and a lot more alive than she was when he had first found her.

At that time, he was watching Sebastian leave with the ringmaster when he suddenly heard a loud scream from the direction Mikan had just went. Leaving all thought of Sebastian behind for some other time, he picked up his feet and ran towards the direction of the scream that was slowly quieting down.

His mind went into a bit of 'frenzy' after that as the Americans say it. He quickly picked up his pace and soon, it lead him to a deserted alley. He looked around, trying to find any trace of her. As in turns out, he didn't have to search for long.

At the left side of the alley was a longhaired girl, on her tummy and on the disgusting ground. She was drowned in her own blood and for a moment, Ciel didn't recognize her. That was until he saw the clothes the girl was wearing. His breath hitched up his throat. Instead of screaming for help, he just stood he just stood there, looking at the body that seemed to be not breathing. His head was filled with denial though he had absolutely no idea _why_ he would be in denial. Then, something in him snapped and he whispered the name of his sinfully faithful butler.

In a second, Sebastian was on his knees in front of him. "What would you have me do, Milord?"

His eyes never left her form as he said his command. "Save her."

"As you wish."

After that, he watched Sebastian with a forced calm gaze as the butler slowly turned the girl on her back and putting his hand on her chest. He felt it in the air when Sebastian pulled his demon magic around him and chanted;

"_Save this girl as it is thy master's wishes"_

"_Save this girl as it is thy wishes"_

"_Save this girl as thou wishes"_

"_Save this girl as we all wishes_"

At the last bar, darkness seemed to wrap itself around Mikan for a moment and when it was gone, so was the blood. Sebastian scooped the girl up and went to his master.

"Young Master, I have closed up her wounds and absorbed half of the blood back into her."

"What of the other half?"

"It has been used to heal her, milord."

"I see." Ciel took a look at the girl and saw that she was pale. Very pale. "Bring her to the summer house. You will treat her there."

Sebastian heard the command in Ciel's words and immediately bowed. "As you wish, milord."

So three hours later, here he was, sitting on a chair beside her bed, just wishing she would open her eyes and gave him one of her attitudes again. Though according to Sebastian's words, due to the great loss of blood, it was possible it'll be long before she open her eyes. That unfortunately left him plenty of time to think.

How could he have forgotten about her just like that? During when she told him to go, how could he have forgotten about her like she was an insignificant being?

He felt fear oozing out of her when she suddenly ran away. Even though he was_ most certainly not worried_, he was a bit wary of what that fear meant. Deep in his heart, he knew it had been something big, something terrible, and something potentially dangerous but even so, right after he saw Joker talk to Sebastian, all thoughts of her left him.

How foolish of him!

"Ciel, you're going to burn the bed if you keep on glaring at it."

Ciel's head turned around to see the Indian Prince coming to his sides from behind.

Mustering his best annoyed glare –which weirdly wasn't that hard— he said, "Soma, go away. I am in no mood to play chess with you." After that, he went back to staring at Mikan's face.

Som didn't go as he was told. Instead, he lingered by grabbing the extra chair in the room and dragging it towards the other side of Mikan's bed. "I didn't come here to ask to play chess with you."

"Then why are you here?"

"I came because I want to see the girl you've fallen in love with."

At that, his head snapped at the prince in front of him who was looking at him with the eyes of pity yet understanding. To say he was shocked was an understatement. How in the world, after not seeing each other in a month, Soma came to _that_ conclusion?

Noticing that he was probably not acting like his usual I-Am-Lord self, he quickly turned that shock into deep, glaring calm.

"What would make you say that?"

Soma tilted his head and turned his away to look at the girls sleeping between them. He waited patiently as he knows Soma was steadily organizing his thoughts though he had the feeling it won't come out right anyway. Soma never really did have the brain to think before talking.

What happened after that totally shocked him again. Soma looked up from Mikan's face and gave him a steady yet kind gaze.

"Ciel, I haven't known you for long time and I admit I'm not the most rational and observant person in the world but with what I've seen when I stayed with you a month ago, I knew you closed your heart to the world. I knew that with the distant air you have around you, nobody would be permitted to the key to your heart. But you know what, then it all changed."

Soma stopped to look at Mikan's face again. Then, carefully as if the slightest touch would wake her, Soma brushed a few strands away from her face and then proceeds to patting her cheek.

He watched Soma's hand moved along the cheek that was entirely covered by a white patch. "What made it all changed?"

"Simple silly. It changed because just now, for the first time ever, I saw panic in you."

He scoffed at that and crossed his arms in a totally _not_ defensive way. "I do not panic, Soma. Never have and when in the world did I _not_ panic?"

Soma threw him a cheeky grin. "I said I saw panic _in_ you not that I saw you _literally_ in panic. Sheesh Ciel, way to screw up the comeback."

Ciel grabbed the nearest thing –which turned out to be a book— and held it threateningly. "Quiet you and answer the question."

Soma raised his hands in a surrender move. "No need to get violent, Ciel. I was merely trying to raise the mood though I'm pretty sure if your glare is anything to go by right now, it's not working. Anyway, I saw panic _in_ you when you slammed the front door open. Without any of that distant air around you, you stomped your way to this room with Sebastian carrying her –Mikan Sakura, wasn't it? — and you looked scared, Ciel. You looked like you were scared you were going to lose something important to you. At that moment I knew that you had gave Mikan your key."

A deadpan silence filled the room. The two avoided each other's eyes and simply save it for the unconscious girl between them. The silence continued till the two forgot each other's presences; too wrapped in their thoughts.

_Knock, knock._

Soma jumped from the interruption of his train of thought. "Yes, come in."

Then came Sebastian with a tray of food enough for two. He laid them on the empty table in the room. "Young Master, here is some lamb chop I have made for you and some Oolong tea to go with it. For the prince, Mister Agni has prepared you some beef curry and jasmine tea to go with it. Enjoy." After that, Sebastian left the room with nothing else said.

Soma clapped his hands and got up. "Well Ciel, since Sebastian and Agni has prepared us food, might as well eat it. I'm pretty hungry actually and Agni's curry always does the trick."

Ciel said nothing to that but also got up and went to the table. He sat in the opposite chair to Soma and the two ate silently. Some of the tension from their earlier talk lingered but overall it was mostly gone. Midway though their lunch, they heard a rustle of bed sheet and immediately, they focused their eyes on the bed.

Mikan was awake and was leaning on the bed frame. Sheet were pooling on her thigh and with a sleepy motion, she rubbed her eyes and released a yawn. Her eyes soon travelled the room and after that, her nose.

"Hm…lamb chop…. want…some…" Without any warning, she floats the remaining lamb chop to her and chopped it into tiny pieces in the air. Then, she took one of the pieces and slowly guided it towards the inside of her mouth. The rest of the pieces floated in the air while she chews.

The room went on a silence once again and this time, it was layered with anticipation, fear and tension. Some came from Ciel but the rest came from Soma. His eyes were wide open as he watched another piece went into her mouth. Not believing what he just saw, he looks at Ciel for conformation that he wasn't going crazy.

Ciel just gave a look that says 'Later'.

A few minutes later, all the lamb chop pieces were gone and Mikan gave a little burp. "Oops. Excuse me."

Despite the situation, Soma managed to laugh. "You're so adorable."

Mikan seemed to not have heard him and instead just stared at him as if he were some sort of alien. A few seconds after being stared at so weirdly, the laughter sort of died and Soma began to fidget in his seat. Ciel rolls his eyes at this and got up to Mikan. That's when Mikan took her eyes off the Indian prince and instead turned to look at the little Lord.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Ciel.

Mikan tilted her head. Her gaze, even though it was on Ciel, was unfocused and distant. Suddenly, she spoke.

"Ciel Phantomhive, currently aged thirteen, Lord of the Phantomhive and head of the Phantomhive Company that which consist of candy, toy and plushy making, no siblings, parents died in a fire cause by the Great. Subject was kidnapped at the age of ten on his birthday. Contract was made with a de-"

All of a sudden, a hand slap onto her mouth and instantly cut her off her words. Soma raised an eyebrow on this and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Ciel's ice-cold words.

"Leave, Soma and bring Sebastian here immediately. Now."

Soma was hesitant. He didn't want to leave Ciel alone, not with that weird thing Mikan had just said but before he could protest, Sebastian came in through the door and wasted no time in giving Soma his famous wide smile and a "Prince Soma, I believe it is time for your lesson with Ms. Andrea, is it not?"

At that moment, Soma knew that he was practically being told to get out and wasted no time in heeding those 'nice' words. After all, when Sebastian pulls off a wide smile, that's when the shivers settle in.

Once the door was closed and Soma was out, Ciel uncovered Mikan's mouth. Soon after, Mikan started talking again as if him blocking her mouth never happened. "Contract was made with a demon, the legendary wielder of the Demonic Magic, Sebastian Michealis. Terms of the contract are unknown and of the Secret of Hell."

To say Sebastian was shocked was an understatement. He was positively gaping by the time the information stopped coming out of Mikan's mouth. Ciel wasn't any different in terms of reaction. Maybe a shade or two worse.

"H-how did you know that? Who told you that?" his tone was accusing.

"I was informed of the information by Sir Rei. He had told me all of the things I need to know of the mission hence, I knew."

Hearing the word 'mission', Sebastian step out of his funk. "Lady, may I ask, who are you exactly? I am pretty sure you are not Mikan Sakura."

The girl nodded. "You are correct. Though I do not have an exact name, I am usually called DI01."

"And what is this mission you talk of?"

"That information is classified and only of use to the Upper and the Great." Suddenly, Mikan found herself inches away from a gun.

Ciel's eyes were ice cold as it bore into hers. "Speak. Who is the Upper and who is this The Great?"

DI01 didn't answer his question and instead eyed the gun neatly pointed between her eyes. "Please put the gun away, Sir Phantomhive."

"Answer my questions."

"Please put the gun away, Sir Phantomhive."

Ciel pointed the gun closer. This time, DI01's eyes went to Ciel's. "I _said_, answer my _damn_ question."

"I have given you fair warning." With that said, DI01 took a deep breath and within a second, Ciel found himself in the air with the air chocking the air out of him.

He struggled against the unseen force with difficulty. Well, it's not easy struggling when your lungs feel like burning to death. Meanwhile, DI01 watched in calmness and Sebastian just looks like he was torn between amusements and somewhat wary. "Miss Mikan-"

"It's DI01. The name Mikan Sakura is not mine."

"Very well. DI01, I ask you, please, release the Young Master from your power. Though he looks absolutely fascinating with the color out of him than usual, it is not in the best of interest of some people right now if he dies."

". . .What guarantee is there that he won't harm me?"

"DI01, if you recall, he did not harm you, he was merely threatening you. Therefore, you have no allegation to strangle him to death."

DI01 considered Sebastian's words while Ciel was getting blue-er and paler by the seconds. Finally, before he truly gave out, she slowly let him down on the floor. Sebastian immediately came to the rescue and helped him regain his breath. Then, DI01 did the unthinkable. She bowed. "Forgive me. I had no reason to harm you."

Ciel watched her with unblinking. The girl was being odd. First she strangles him and then says sorry? "Never mind. I too apologize for acting the way I did."

"It's okay. I was not harm therefore it does not mean anything to me."

"I see." Ciel took a huge gulp of breath and finally plopped onto the chair he had just used. "DI01, where is exactly Mikan Sakura?"

"She is sleeping."

"And when is she coming out?"

"I do not know. Mikan Sakura usually comes out when this body reaches the normal standard of health."

"You mean when she is healthy again?"

"Yes."

The questions stopped for a while as Ciel gathered his thoughts. So Mikan was asleep and in her place is the weird girl who refused to be called Mikan Sakura?

_Let's not forget the part where she tried to kill me._

"DI01, from now on, I am your master. Mikan Sakura has agreed to collaborate with me for her mission –her goal, per say—and that technically makes me your master too. Therefore, your Sir Rei is no longer your master. _I_ am."

DI01 was quiet for a moment. "I do not know what to say. I was not trained of this situation. I am…confused." It was even more confusing she thought it was confusing to the fact she was confused. She had never encountered this sort of situation and for once, she was hesitant.

Sebastian saw all the emotions battling against each other in her and thought it was…appropriate to give her his seven million watt smile. "You don't have to say anything, milady. Mikan Sakura is our ally right now and that makes you our ally too."

Ciel nodded to his butler's words. "True. Mikan Sakura and I made a pact. She is given a place to stay and food to eat whereas I get to watch the ending of this story. It's simple and it kills time."

This time, DI01 pondered on his words for a long time. Surprisingly, Ciel didn't get angry and just gave her have some space. It was nearing to three minute of silence when DI01 spoke again. "I accept your offer."

Ciel nodded and got up as he pat away invisible dust off his trousers. "Good. Then from now on, I will call you Azure. It is the name of the blue stone my father once gave to my mother on their anniversary."

For the first time since she had awoken, her whole face showed her emotion. Azure was shocked that he was giving her a new name. It made her eyes wide, her mouth slightly gaping and most importantly, speechless. Ciel smirked at this and seems to think no answer was needed because soon after, he and Sebastian exited the room without another look at her.

* * *

Hotaru Imai is worried.

It's been a month since her best friend managed to escape. Don't get her wrong, she's not jealous or vengeful or anything but she's worried. Mikan had never been outside of the Institution since childhood. The basic things about living are probably gone from her. If something happens to her…

"Hotaru, it's not good to dwell on things that are out of your control."

Hotaru didn't need to look to know Ruka was already in the room and was in the process of closing the door; privacy. "Nogi, she is still a child."

Ruka rolled his eyes. "Hotaru, she is not a child. She may _look_ childish and she may _act_ childish but she is _not_ childish. This place, whether any of us wants it or not has changed us into adults. It's-"

Suddenly, Hotaru took one of the trinkets on the huge table beside her bed and slammed it against the wall. The trinket was in pieces by the time in finish slid down the wall. Ruka watched all of this with unexpected calmness as if he had seen this unusual type of behavior from the Ice Queen a thousand times. With a sigh, he picked up the broken trinket and dump in the huge dumpster that was full with the many previous destroyed trinkets.

"Hotaru, worrying will not solve anything. The only thing we can do now is pray that she is okay. Besides, Alice said she's keeping an eye on Mikan's future and especially her death. Right now, that's the best that we can hope for." Ruka said no more as he waited for the words to sink in which frankly, didn't take long.

"You and little spiky hair girl better be right about this because if not, someone's head is going to roll around the floor."

"Which will most likely be me rather than Alice."

"Glad to know you know."


	8. Everything's New

**Hello ladies and gentleman! MANY THANKS TO THE REVIEWS THAT YOU GUYS GAVE TO ME AND MY STORY! APPRICIATE IT! Now, before I move on to the main agenda of the day, I would answer some of your question.**

**Q: Why do you bring the topic of love so quickly?**

**A: Because I feel it's the right time and in this story, Ciel isn't the kind of person that would take months before liking someone. Let's face it. He may be the Queen's little puppy but that doesn't mean the boy can't love someone quickly. He just DOESN't love someone quickly.**

**Q: How will the love triangle between Nastume, Mikan and Ciel react to this?**

**A: Have I ever said I wanted Natsume to be included to this little love triangle?**

**That's mostly the questions you guys have asked me. By the way Polkadots24, I felt like you read my mind about bringing Lizzy into the chapter. Quite frankly, I had already many ideas on bringing Lizzy into this story and just so you all know, into this chapter. Seriously, it's like you read my mind. It's scary. . .are you sure you're not stalking me...**

**PS: How did you know about the Lizzy/swordsmanship thing? THE CHAPTER HAD JUST GONE OUT. Seriously, you're scary...**

**Warning: Take a deep breath.**

* * *

Azure stared at the door Ciel had just used to get out. She hasn't moved since Ciel excused himself and leaving her into a state of shock that doesn't seem to want to go away. Truthfully, she doesn't know if it would ever go away and the thought of that scares her. She was trained. Trained by the coldest person in the world to kill her emotion in case situation like this ever comes up -not literally- but she couldn't seem to work it to her advantage right now.

Though after a few minutes standing and staring into nowhere, she decided enough was enough and tore her gaze away from the door and decide to stare out the window. It was a bit dark outside with a bit of sun. The ground was completely covered in snow and she could see two man playing in the snow.

Snow...

_"Master, would it be okay if DI01 go play in the snow?" The little version of her asked a man sitting in a rocking chair behind her. _

_The man didn't even look up from his book. "No."_

_Slowly, she tore her eyes from the frozen window. "It promise to be good in the next practise, master."_

_Again, the man disregarded her words. "I told you no, DI01. Ask me again and you shall be punished."_

_"Affirmative, master."_

She never played with snow. Everytime it did, she was always stuck and confined in her cell as she was forced to study and study, train and train till her whole body gave out by the end of the day. When she wasn't doing anything, she was forced to watch her weaker friends -in terms of Alice- play in the snow because the Upper thinks they were weak enough not to cause trouble. It always managed to tick her in the wrong way seeing them play all those fun looking games but she knew enough never to say it out loud unless she wanted to be punished. Severely punished.

_Knock, knock._

She immediately stilled against the sound though she forced her body to turn around and say, "Come in." Albeit, it came pretty slow and soft that she was sure no normal human would be able to hear it.

To her surprise, the person on the other side seemed to heard what she said and slowly opened the door. Sebastian's head poked out of the edges before opening the door fully and entering. "Miss Azure, the master wishes for your presence inside the lounge room."

"Affirmative. I will be there. Please show me the way." She immediately began to walk towards the door and was about to sidestepped around Sebastian but Sebastian managed to get between her and the door before she could.

Because Sebastian is tall, she had to look up to him. "Please get out of my way, Master Sebastian."

It didn't escape Sebastian the fact that she used the same sentence she used against Ciel just before she nearly killed him. "Miss Azure, I'm afraid you are not properly attired to go out and see the Young Master. The Young Master is a young gentleman and you are young lady and I'm afraid here, in London, it is simply not proper for young ladies to go see young gentlemen wearing a simple night robe."

Azure merely blinked and look down. True, she was wearing a nightrobe that was white, frilly and almost see through. Still, she didn't get what Sebastian meant by 'not proper'. However, she was trained to obey and if Sebastian tells to her to change, then she'll change. Which she was about to do when Sebastian stopped her again.

"Miss Azure, what are you doing?"

Azure stopped in her mission to undo the buttons behind her. "I am undressing."

Sebastian let out a sigh even though the corners of his lips turned up. "Miss Azure, a lady never undresses in front of men that are not they're husband or they're lady-in-waiting. Come, let us go inside the bathroom and we will work from there. It will simply not do for a lady to go meet a gentleman after not taking a bath for almost a day. Come."

Frankly, Azure thinks there are too much Things To and Not To Do By A Lady but she dismissed the thought and began following Sebastian to the bathroom located on the left side of the room. When she entered, it was almost apparent that the bathroom was entirely white, marbled and decorated with the finest things in the world yet all of that didn't even turned her head. She merely scanned the room with a distant air while Sebastian went on to the bath tub and prepared her water bath.

Then suddenly, with a silent movement rivaling hers, Sebastian was at her side. "Miss Azure, your bath is ready. Now, as there are no lady-in-waiting in this house, I will carry the duty of one for you." Without a warning, he began to unbutton her night robe for her. A second later, the robe fell onto the cold floor and heat started swimming in her cheeks. She slowly touched her heated cheeks and blinked.

_What is this?_

"That is call a blush, Miss Azure. A blush is a simple reaction when someone gets embarrassed." And then he chuckled. "Do not worry. I have no whatsoever feeling towards seeing you bare, milady."

Azure didn't know how to feel when he said that though she felt a little ticked. Not the kind of ticks she felt when she sees other kids play in the snow but a similar tick. An...annoyed tick, perhaps?

_Absurd. Dolls do not get annoyed. Dolls do not get ticked__._

"Milady, if you please." Sebastian gestured to the bath tub. He waited for the small girl to walk towards it but when her eyes feast upon it, it instantly went big.

_Panic, distortion, water. . ._

_"Stop! Please stop it! Stop it, Master Rei!" Her words were muffled once again as her head was dunked inside the steaming hot water. She was put under it for almost a minute before he yanked her back to surface by the hair._

_"What was my order, DI01?"_

_She was still gasping for air when she answered. "Order...your order was..." She tried to get the order out of her mouth but her mind was still fuzzy from the lack of air and constant head dunking inside the water. So, naturally, she was dunked again. This time, it went on a little a longer and by the time he grabbed her hair and got her back to the surface, she was near faint._

_"What was my order, DI01?"_

_"Don't...reveal...kill...smile...laugh...emotion..."_

_"Not good enough." And the dunking continued._

"-re, Miss Azure! Miss Azure!"

All of a sudden, a pair of blue eyes were in front of her. The world seemed to stop for a while as she stared into those ruby eyes. They were her favourite color. It was hard to get her eyes of it. . .It was very mesmerizing to stare at all day long. . .

"Miss Azure! Are you alright, miss?" It was then he shook her again. That move managed to snap her out of her trance and allowed her to look at her surrounding. Easy said, the bathroom wasn't the same anymore. The mirrors were cracked, the previously hot water gone, some of the floor tiles shattered and the towel hanged to the wall was shredded to tiny pieces. She spied the damage some more before concluding that was the rest of it. She went back looking into Sebastian's semi-worried face.

"I'm fine, Master Sebastian. I merely accidentally released my control of my emotion. Please forgive me as you punish me." She then bow her head even though Sebastian was still holding onto her side.

Sebastian sighed and scanned the room for damaged himself. It was going to cost some money repairing the damages but compared to what the other servants had done in their years of service, this was nothing. "Come, Miss Azure. I suggest I get you dried up. It seems during your temporary lack of control, you have managed to get yourself wet from the hot water. Come. Let us get your dressed, milady."

Sebastian raised up from the floor and ushered Azure to do the same. Soon, the both left the semi-destroyed bathroom with Azure covered with Sebastian's tail coat.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the lounge, Ciel huffed. He had Sebastian called for Mik-no, Azure- an hour ago and while he is an extremely patient man -he refused to be call a boy- he was getting agitated. He never like waiting. It was a waste of time when he could use it for other purpose. Scowling, he tapped the edge of the sofa he was currently occupying.

_Knock, knock._

_"_Enter."

And enter Azure in a red puffy dress that seems to want to drown her but at the same time made her look small, vulnerable and glass-ish. Her hair was up in a high pony tail tied by a single red ribbon and she wore a white elbow-length gloves and small looking white shoes. Her pale white face was otherwise clean except for a hint of red lipstick on her lips. Seeing all those red, it reminded the little Earl of his late aunt.

_Aunt Red._

"Good evening, Master Ciel."

"Good evening. Take a seat and let's get this started. I'll have you know I have been waiting for almost an hour for you. I do not like to wait."

"Your words are noted, Master Ciel," she said as she took a seat to the opposite of him. Because she was kinda short, her legs dangled from the edges of it. It made him chuckled internally but then he remembered his feet were also dangling and the thought made him immediately scowled again.

"Sebastian, tea and some sweets," he snapped to his butler.

Sebastian internally rolled his eyes in his head from Ciel's tone. Looking at where Ciel was looking and then after a simple math work, he knew what had ticked his _little_ master. "At once, _Young_ Master." He quickly get out of the room before Ciel could throw something at him.

Knowing Sebastian was silently laughing behind him, Ciel vowed to get one on him. Soon. But for now, he had more pressing thing to do. As he took a deep breath, his eyes went to the little girl in front of him. She was stone-ish and seems to be waiting for him to make the first move. "We have a lot to discuss, Azure. First of all, _how in the world did you find out about the contract?_"

Azure didn't even blinked when she answered him. "I was not given into detail on the recovery of the information. I was merely told _of_ the information by Sir Rei."

Ciel didn't look pleased at all hearing that but she noticed he pushed the annoyance away and immediately went into business mode. Suddenly, the air around him changed and morphed into something else. Something different. His chin was higher in the air and his eyes had a distant but still held that I-Am-Lord air. "Tell me everything you know about the contract and about myself. I also want full detail on the murder of the late Earl and Lady Phantomhive."

"Affirmative. I will start off relaying the informations according to the sequence of incidents."

Ciel internally gulped, knowing this was the time the murderer of his parents will be revealed.

"You were born as Ciel Phantomhive to Earl Vincent Phantomhive and his wife, Rachel Phantonhive. You had a dog named Sebastian and had only one helper of the house, Tanaka and he is still your helper though not the main butler anymore. Life was relatively normal for you. You were home schooled due to your asma that was reported as bad since you were a kid though you have grown out of it, mostly. Your intellectual ability was above normal for your age. Then, at the age of ten on your birthday, your parents were murdered in the middle of the house. Rachel Phantomhive and Vincent Phantomhive were tied to a chair as they were burned to crisp. The big fire left you unconscious and kidnapped by the ally of the Institution, the Great and her associates." Azure stopped for a deep breath. Before she could start again, Ciel held up his hand.

"Her? You mean the Great is 'she'? Tell me, who is this Great and her associates?"

"The Queen and the Noah Circus Ark. Among others."

* * *

Natsume were shuffling through the hall.

A newbie was coming today and he was ordered to be her chaperone and partner. Partner. That words put a metallic taste inside her mouth. Mikan had been his only partner in this damned place and since she was gone, he had resist any attempt to assign him to another partner but this time he couldn't get out of it. They were going to kill Ruka. . .and his little brother and sister. . . He couldn't let that happen.

_Creek_.

He dismissed the thought and turned towards the door behind him. All emotions were expelled from his facial structure as he watched a curly blond hair girl cuddled to the chest by Tsubasa. She wore a blue, puffy dress which he thought matched with her white, milky skin. Currently, the girl was sleeping against Tsubasa's chest. Natsume went closer towards his senior and held out his hands.

"Give her to me."

Without hesitation, Tsubasa loosened his hold of the girl and passed her to Natsume. Now that he was holding her, he noticed she was quite petite and very light. Lighter than Mikan had ever been but that was to be expected. The idiot ate like a giant with a black hole for a stomach. "I'll take her to her room. Later." Without waiting for any response, he went on his way. On the way there, feeling so similar to a stalker, he continued to watch her face. No matter how much he stared at it, he couldn't seem to get enough. What the hell?

"Ugh . . .where am I?" Seems like the girl was stirring. He hoped she wouldn't but that wasn't likely to be the case.

"You're awake. Good." Slowly, he put a stop on his heels and dropped the girl to the floor. Unceremoniously. He had fun seeing her face suddenly went from milky white in mild red. Probably from rage and embarrassment.

"Hey! What did you do that for! How dare you drop me, a lady, like that, you jerk!" The girl fumbled through her huge dress in her attempt to get up.

"Whatever little girl. Come. Now that you're awake, follow me. You're fat." He threw in the last one for good measure. Sure enough, by the end of it, the girl looked like she was going to kill him on sight. Fun. With a huge smirk in his head, he walked past her towards her room once more.

"Where am I?" By the sound of it, it looks like the girl was close to him meaning she's following him. Good.

"You're at the Institution. A place where-"

"Alice gather and harnest their power. "

He stop in his stride long enough to look at her past his shoulder. "So you're not stupid. Good." Turning his head once again, he continued his way. "What's your name, brat?"

"Elizabeth. Lady Elizabeth Middleford."

* * *

**So there you have it guys! This is the end of this chapter unfortunately. Tell me, tell me, did you expect that? Did you, did you? It'll be cool if you didn't, just so it doesn't make me totally obvious and I hate being obvious. Though sadly, one of my friends once told me I was the most obvious person in the world. Oh well, what can you do?**

**REVIEWS! I BEG OF YOU! PLEASE! DON'T MAKE ME DO THE EXTREME! I WON'T BUT. . . .yeah. . .I won't. . . **


	9. Meetings And Moonlight

**First and foremost, thank you all for reviewing my story. I appreciate the fact that even after so long of absence, you guys still stuck by me. **

**Everyone, I am so sorry for not updating for a REALLY LONG TIME. The only thing I can say in defense is that my life has been SUPER SUPER BUSY. Ever since my last chapter, I had to experience with Midterm Exam (Luckily my grades were pretty good) and then came holiday (But I had work to do) and then came my August test. In between those times I have done something. Something that required not writing any fanfictions for a long time. And that thing is;**

**I have been working on a fiction novel.**

**Yes people, it was gruesome, tiring and overall mood killing. Though surprisingly, it turned out pretty good for my first time writing completed novel. At least that's what my sister told me but since it's my SISTER that told me that, I was inclined to believe otherwise. **

**Right now, I am facing my end-of-term exam. Addmath...well...it wasn't pretty but my physics might actually be good. BTW, I managed to write this because I'm having a week off before resuming my exam so I thought to take this chance to give you guys a treat for being so A.W.E.S.O.M.E.**

**Anyway, for my long, long, loooooooong absence, I hope you guys can forgive me. Really, I do.**

**Before I go on, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Angelic Yet Demonic, and NatsukekonemeYuubasa. Thanks guys for being awesome. Not to say the rest of you weren't, it's just...uh...okay, I'm gonna stop there. **

**On with the story!**

**PS: I just found out Elizabeth's name was actually Midford, not Middleford. Sorry for the confusion!**

**pps: I barely did a spell check here so watch out! And contact me if you don't get anything!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned this, I wouldn't be writing fanfic about it.**

* * *

Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford.

That was the name she had been born with, the name she was expected to hold till she was old enough to get married (hopefully). But from a young age, there was only one name that appealed to her. Not to say her name wasn't good. On contrary, she loves her name because it was a sign that she was real, that she was somebody. But for the longest time since she could remember, only one name intrigued her like no other. The name she yearned was not of someone she had seen before or had fallen in love with. No, it was a name that she frequently saw in her dreams, awake or not.

Since she was young, her dreams had always foretold the future, telling her information when she wanted it, whispering her encouragement when she needed it and singing to her songs when she felt like it. Her dreams were stable, un-irregular and it was where she knew most of what she needed to know to survive. Nobody knew of this ability and she preferred it to be this way. Seriously, to be called a witch and being burned at the stake wasn't the way she wanted to go. First of all, there would be no matching gown to go with that (if the court even allowed her to wear dresses) and second, she would look so _tiny_ on the stake. So yeah, it wasn't the way to go. So with that, she survived and right now, everything is crucial.

So here she was, in her little mint green room, just trying to figure out how to get her plans to start moving. Her dreams tell her things but it didn't tell her _how_ and sometime, it frustrates her. It made her want to grab something -preferably sharp- and stab it and someone. Like always thought, she reigned it in. It wouldn't do for everyone to start thinking she was a tad-bit sadistic than she outwardly show. Though looking at the bright side, at least she wasn't going to turn stupid or lazy as everyone back home was inclined to think of her.

Trapped in her own thoughts, she barely had time to put on her mask again when the door was unceremoniously opened.

Hyuuga Natsume stood in front of the door, looking as bored and rugged as ever.

She plastered the usual huge smile in front of her face and turned her eyes to him. "Yes, Mister Hyuuga?"

"You're wanted in Narumi's Office."

She nodded in acknowledgement and got up from her small, white bed. "Do you know why?"

Natsume threw a scowl at her and started moving away from the door with his hands in his pockets and his back turned from her. "How should I know what that gay wants?"

She shrugged and slipped on her slippers and started following Natsume. They didn't bother with words and she and truthfully, she didn't mind it at all. In fact she welcomed it in a way. Back home, everyone sort of expected (thought she knew they hated it) her to be happy, jumping up around and overall, alive. They didn't say it outright but after spending years and years -make that since she was born- learning underneath the underneath of her dream, she could make a guess or two. And not to brag but she would be flawless in it.

Natsume on the other hand was watching the little girl beside him with wary eyes. He had been told of her abilities and knew her ability would rival that of Alice. Maybe even surpasses hers. Sure, that spiky hair, not to mention weird, girl could tell you what you needed to know ASAP but it was only in the near future and it changes very easily to be concrete. But the power the girl beside him was stronger. According to the report, she predict the future scaring-ly accurate and even though it had to be done in night and during her sleep, it was still very powerful in the long term and the big scheme of things. He had no doubt whatsoever of the reason why she was called by Narumi.

Narumi might be nice enough when he wasn't being a total pedophile but here at the Institute, it's one's skin before others.

Soon they arrived in front of a bright pink neon door and Natsume inwardly cringed as usual due to the traumatizing affect it always had with his eyes. He still, to this day, don't understand why would the Institute allow such..._disgusting-ness_ in it. They kept preaching things about holiness and all sort of shit and then they went and let this _thing_ exist. For goodness sake, the door simply screamed "Come and kill me, I'm an easy target because I love pink."

Even in his head in sounded weird.

He looked to the girl to see her reaction and saw that her eyes were _shining bright_.

_Shining bright._

_Her eyes were shining bright._

Plus her smile was so big he half expected her face to split.

Natsume Hyuuga concluded that the world is simply crazy and opens the door.

Narumi was sitting behind his desk and was not wearing his usual disgusting choice of fashion. Instead he wore a midnight suit that looked to be extremely fit on him. That raised his eyebrow by one milimeter. Narumi was rarely seen wearing a suit. That kind of thing happened only once in every blue moon. The fact Narumi had none of his usual secret-shrouded smile was another that caused a stirring in his stomach.

What the hell was going on?

Narumi look up from the file he reading and shot a small smile towards the two. "Hello Natsume, Miss Elizabeth. Natsume, if you could wait outside while I talk to Miss Elizabeth?"

Natsume crossed his arms and gave him a look. Narumi mentally sighed and began raising his hand towards his purple earring when Natsume scowled and very quickly _walked_ out of the room. Narumi gave a deep chuckle to that.

Elizabeth on the other hand didn't know whether to laugh or to stare at the door in curiousity.

* * *

Azure stared off into the distance of her ceiling.

After the little revelation that was imparted to Master Ciel, he had dismissed her and told her to stay off in her room until the next morning. She didn't mind the order because through out her time in the Institute, that was the normal thing in life. But unlike in the Institute, she found that her chest ached a bit when Master Ciel did it. Maybe she should tell him she was having chest pain?

_"Master, DI01 is not feeling well. DI01 is experiencing cold, Master Rei. DI01 suspect that DI01 will not be in full healthy mode for today's training, Master. DI01 request temporary break, Master." She finally let out the cough she had been holding for a while now. Master Rei hated people who breaks when talking. _

_Master Rei took one look at her that was wrapped under her blanket in her room and in an instant, she was on the floor, her hand on her cheek. To add to that, her head started ringing and she swore her stomach was experiencing stabbing pains. He must have kicked her before slaping her. He was fast enough to do that without her even knowing it was coming. _

_Still, she didn't cry, didn't weep and she didn't dare stare in his eyes. All that three things would make the whole thing just more worse than it already is._

_"I do not care. You will resume training at once. Being sick is for the weak and right now, you are weak." He took one last look at her before marching towards the door and slaming it close. He didn't even need to say anything else. She would know what to do._

_Slowly, she got up from the floor and began changing out from her white robe and into her training clothes. They consisted on a dark blue shirt and pants, black combat boots and a red sash to tie at her waist. She tied her hair up in the air and took off her red earrings and placed them on her small white table. She ignored the small bottle of medicines and the stabbing pain in her stomach and began to decorate her body with knives and a gun. After making sure all traces of emotions were gone from her entire self, she walked out the door and never looked back._

Yes. It would truly be unadvisable to tell Master Ciel anything about the pain.

Azure stared at the ceiling of her bed for a long time. She tried sleeping by closing her eyes and hoping the drowsiness would come any moment but after an hour doing that and still not asleep, she sat up. Her eyes trailed off to the left where a huge window sat. A full moon was on tonight. Without even needing to think about it, her hands pushed away the covers in a slow manner and she slid her feet of the bed.

She walked to the window and sat on the floor, her eyes never leaving the moon even for a second. The moon looked beautiful, even etheral that night. It's light pooled at her feet and she found herself longing to touch the moon. To go outside even if it's just a while and to just feel the light pouring itself onto her skin. She was so entranced by the idea that she nearly didn't notice her door opening. She controlled her eyes to not look shock and immediately went to her knees, kneeling towards the figure. Master Rei had always demanded she kneeled to her whenever they met.

"Master Sebastian. What brings you to DI01 room's?"

Sebastian chuckled at the scene before him. "Your name is no longer DI01 anymore, Miss Azure."

Azure merely nodded, eyes still on the ground.

"It is late, Miss Azure. What is troubling you?" It didn't escape both of their notice that Sebastian never once told her to rise and Azure, like a trained servant, never commented nor ask to be let stand.

"It is nothing Master should be worried about. I simply had trouble sleeping. You should return back to bed, Master Sebastian."

He nodded and circled the figure on the floor, a thoughful look plastered on his face. "That is true but as a demon, you know I would not need such mundane things like sleeping."

Azure said nothing to that.

He continued, "Tell me, as a demon, what do you know of me? The Young Master, I suspect will ask you this tomorrow but since you are awake and appear to be unable to sleep, perhaps this little tedious conversation would be of service and would cut the interrogation just a little bit short tomorrow."

"I do not know beyond of what I have said, Master Sebastian. All I was told of was the basic characteristic of a demon such as not being able to taste human food, sleeping and such. Others were that Master Sebastian is the wielder of the legendary Demonic Magic due to the fact Master Sebastian is related to the-"

"Enough."

"Very well." Azure knew that tone. Master Rei had used that on her a lot.

_Displeasure._

Azure began to dread the punishment she knew would be felt later.

Sebastian on the other hand simply tapped his chin in deep thought. He didn't know human could have known about him that much. To know that he was related to _that_ was not something he want out to the world. It went unsaid that if the world knew about that, there would mass chaos. In the Other World and the Human World. Still, he felt strangely impressed that the humans knew so much about him. To know his history, one would have to search high and low, left and right, Other World and Human World and most of all, they had to have connection. Not those flimsy of an excuse connections but _actual demonic connections._

He was take out of this thought when Azure suddenly fell to the floor. He went to her placed two fingers on her neck. Sensing she was still alive and breathing, he scooped her in his arms, holding her close to his chest. He took her up from the floor and lay her on the bed.

He tucked the Wind User under the covers and up to her neck. His hands lingered on the cover beside her neck and began trailing up to her cheek. There was no expression on his face, just contemplation on something. Finally, after minutes in that position, he took his hand and went out.

On the way to his room, a smile grew on his face.

* * *

_Azure opened her eyes to only find herself in her usual darkness. She let herself sigh here and got up from the floor. She began to walk around, seemingly in non-pattern way when finally she found the spot she was searching for. _

_A door of twelve feet tall stood in front of her. It was white and it was glowing with colors such that it was shining and she doubted it would ever stop shining. She took a deep breaht and opened the door. Her eyes instantly met that of her twin, her otherself, Mikan._

_Mikan was wearing the exact same thing as her and had her usual blank face whenever she sees her. Azure couldn't blame her at all though she doesn't know why._

_"So he gave you a name?"_

_"Affirmative."_

_"And you told him of his parent's murderers?"_

_"Affirmative."_

_"And you told Sebastian what you knew of him?"_

_"Affirmative."_

_"Why was I never informed of your knowledge towards Ciel and Sebastian?"_

_"Master Rei didn't not indulge that information with me. I was simply told of it."_

_A scowl flitted for a second on Mikan's face but it was quickly whisked away by the blank face again. "Very well. I was awake throughout your escape-"_

_Azure unwillingly flinched at the word._

_"-though I knew you wish otherwise so you don't need to debrief me of you escapes."_

_"I do not, I mean, wish you otherwise. I never have. You would know."_

_Mikan didn't say anything but she didn't have to. They both already knew the answer to that._

_After a moment of silence, Azure willed herself to look her other self in the eyes and took step back. "It seems that your time draws near. It is your turn now."_

_"It would seem so."_

_"I wish you the best of luck." The phrase rolled easily off her tongue. It's what she always said when they have their trade of the body._

_"Stay out of my way." And that's what Mikan would always say when they have their trade of the body._

_"Affirmative."_

_And Mikan slammed the door right in her face, leaving her to sleep in the darkness like she always do._

* * *

In a room lit by a single light on the middle of the table, three figure lifted a cup of tea to their lips. The only sound in the room was the clinking of the glasess and the breathing of the three man.

"He has found out."

"Isn't that obvious, you baffoon?"

"Shut up, T-"

"Quiet down you two."

Silence fell onto the room again.

"Now, it seems they have found out and though I would guess the demon is curious, it would not be his main priority. Shame he would not find out about her until the end."

"True. Being killed like that is so sad and so painful, don't you agree? Would't it be exciting to see him go the way he would be when the curtain falls? Isn't that why we let that pathetic demon to roam free with that soul? So that he would die the most painful death?"

"He deserves it, that bastard."

"Very true."

* * *

**There you go guys. I hope you enjoyed it and I would really love it if you guys could leave a comment/review. I was hoping to reach forty review by the 9th chapter and I woulf totally love you guys when you do. I gotta go now. Got some things to do/write/read. By those I mean I have a week off and next week, I have five more papers to go!**

**WISH ME LUCK FOR CHEMISTRY!**


	10. The Tenth Revelation

**Hey guys! Can't talk long and I just wanna says some things.**

**A) I realized that the place where Ciel was staying at with Souma was a townhouse so yeah, that mistake is rectified here.**

**B) Not much editing has been done so I'm sorry.**

**C) I dont own the characters and the original story. This story, however, is mine. Steal, copy and even try to alter it in a way that differentiates it with mine will get your future story so low on review till you'll be paying reviews to people just to get reviews.**

**D) I'm going to sleep.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sebastian worked as usual that morning. He had got up from bed and made the bed, got into his usual set of uniform for the day, didn't look himself in the mirror because he knows everything about him was picture perfect as the butler of the Phantomhive and went to the kitchen to start his typical routine of the day.

As his master had ordered from him yesterday, he started gathering ingredients to make the perfect English scones that the master prefers so much. He let his hands moved as they usually did while his mind wandered to yesterday's late night conversation with Mikan.

Who would have thought mere humans that simply held superhuman powers knew so much about him? When he decided to start granting wishes for the humans, he had made sure everything about his past was erased as perfect as possible. He had gone to the right demons, asking favors and giving favors, bribed, cheated, seduced, charmed , in short term won every single demon that knew him in return they would keep quiet about his past. In seemed that over the millennia, they had forgotten that. How else would the human found out about his Demonic Magic? A magic that only a type of demon like him could get.

Sebastian internally shook his head to rid of the memories that came with a rage he knew too well but it was hard. And just like that, the memories resurfaced. Slowly the images appeared unseemly in front of his eyes and turning all the switches inside him on. His hands began to slow its movement in its work until it finally stopped. He could feel his magic swirling around him, turning the air humid till a human could suffocate inside it. He could also feel the lengthening of his nails that was steadily turning into claws, his teeth steadily becoming canines. By this point, he knew his eyes had turned into a slit like a cat. At the back of his mind, he knew he should stop soon in case somebody shows but…

Then the sound of heavy boot footsteps breached his sense and just like that, he drew back all the rage and the memories and the effects that came along with it. It was a good thing he could do it as quick as lighting as Bard suddenly chose that moment to show up.

"Hey Sebastian, whatcha doing?"

And the day restarted itself again.

* * *

After placating Bard from helping him that would surely be followed by an explosion and a reconstruction of the kitchen, Sebastion brought the metal trolley filled with Ciel's breakfast to the latters bedroom. He let his mind blank to ensure his little 'episode' does not occur again and with that, he arrived in front of the intended door in a matter of minutes. As usual, he knocked despite knowing Ciel was probably still sleeping. So he was, to put it simply, shocked to find a reply from inside the room. By the sound of it, it was probably Ciel's voice so that ruled kidnapping, murder or otherwise other 'funny' things. So what could have possessed his little master to wake up early?

That answer revealed itself when he opened the door and saw Mikan, all dressed up in the new clothes that they had bought for her, sitting on Ciel's bed, apparently making small talks with him. Really, he should have known.

Sebastian barely stopped a sigh from passing his lips before coming closer to the bed. "Young Master, it is inappropriate to be on the same bed as a lady before you are married, my lord." He began preparing the tea but Ciel's blush and Mikan's innocent and questioning gaze didn't escape him. He chuckled mentally.

"W-why is it always me!" Ciel's voice wavered a bit and he was ashamed it did.

Mikan turned her gaze to Ciel in the same questioning gaze she gave to Sebastian. "What are you guys talking about? Why does it matter if a girl sits on a boy's bed? I do it all the time at the Institution with my friends."

The phrase 'could hear a pin drop' made itself clear at the moment to the only guys –well one boy and one guy actually, not that the previous would admit it— and for a moment, Sebastian contemplated in his decision to tell Mikan what it meant just to see his little master squirm but decided against it. If anything, that kind of talk should be given by a lady to another lady. As a demon he does not have any shame yet he was pretty sure his little master was not the same.

Oh, it rhymed.

In the end he said, "It is okay, Miss Mikan. This kind of talk will make itself clear to you when you're a little bit older."

Mikan, not to his surprise, took it easily. "Okay."

Minor crisis of the day; Averted.

"Sebastian, did you bring enough breakfast for the two if us?"

Truthfully he didn't but with his magic, he could easily copy the ones he already had or conjure some without anybody noticing by blocking their view of him doing it. He let his trademark smile of his took over his face and said "Of course, Young Master. What kind of butler would I be if I could not do something as simple as this?"

And the day went on.

* * *

Not for the first time, Sebastian reevaluated why he was posing as a butler for the sake of a mere, A-grade soul that despite being extremely delicious, was also extremely hard not to scream in frustration.

"You want me to infiltrate the camp? And obtain every single clue or information I could find in there no matter how useless it may seem? And you wish for me to do it alone?"

"Certainly not. Mikan will be coming with you. Really Sebastian, do not act like an idiot. It is unbefitting of a butler of Phantomhive standard," Ciel muttered as he carefully spooned the sinfully delicious Crème Brule that Sebastian made, not that he'll ever mention it.

Mikan who was also eating the same Crème Brule could only nod her confirmation and unneeded consent.

The slight twitch of his eyebrow seemed almost permanent at that moment.

* * *

"Say Sebastian, why aren't you smiling as usual?" asked Mikan one fine night while sitting on top of a tower near the camp site of the circus.

Sebastian didn't answer.

Mikan knew not to say anything by then.

They were on top of the tower, waiting for the camp site to lose its light and for the residents to sleep. The moon was high in the sky and the best of all, the moon was in its full form that night. Sebastian didn't move from his stand-up position except for the slight tilt towards the moon.

It shined. It shined brightly tonight and distantly, he could hear the wind's 'swish'ing around, making people hug the clothing on their body for possibly a small measure of heat in the harsh of winter. As a demon, he was unaffected by it and because Mikan had directed the cold to elsewhere, she was too.

Looking at the moon, he was reminded slightly of the Demon World where the moon was forever red making the realm the very epitome of what the humans always predicted it to be. When he was there, the moon never seemed important or as…beautiful, as sentimental as that sounds, as it was in the human world.

Having had enough of frivolous human-ish thought, he turned to the girl beside him who was, in the midst of his staring at the moon, had started her own staring at the huge white ball. Her eyes mirrored the moon, making it glint, making it seemed she was on her own little world where the only thing that existed was her and the ethereal beauty of the moon.

_"Hey Sebastian, don't you want to see the human world's moon? It's beautiful, you know?"_

_He looked to his side and—_

"Hey Sebastian, they've fallen—hey, are you okay? You looked a little pale."

Sebastian realized that he had been staring her for a while and quickly pulled himself back into reality. The Wind girl beside him was staring at him, questions filling her eyes. He quickly donned The Smile on his face and said, "I'm fine, Miss Mikan."

She didn't look like she believed it, he honestly didn't care if she didn't, but she shrugged and said, "Whatever then. Come on, it looks like they've fallen asleep. Now's our chance."

Sebastian cleared his throat discreetly and turned his eyes away from the girl and onto the field filled with camps and tents. The lights were all gone except for two but since those are simply for direction purpose probably, it was easily dismissed.

"Very well. Come Miss Mikan, we cannot be late for breakfast."

He could almost see the sight of his food in his eyes and deduced she was thinking of it. She suddenly eagerly nodded and said, "Yeah. We can't be late for that. Let's go!"

And off they went, Mikan flying using her wind and Sebastian seemingly effortlessly gliding in the air.

* * *

They landed safely in the middle of the camp site. Sebastian decided for the two of them that they would tackle the seemingly big tents and search them. They knew what they were supposed to be searching for so it took no time for the small planning and eventual split up. Mikan was in charge of the big tents of the east and north side of the site while Sebastian would be in charge of the east and south side of the campsite.

Sebastian walked softly, sure that no ordinary humans would hear him, as he walked to the first big tent he noticed when he was sitting on top of the tower. There were three of them and he was about to enter the first one.

The inside of the tent was everything like he imagined, occupied by two beds side by side and was apparently filled. He let his eyes glaze over everything and when he noticed nothing worthy of suspicion, he slowly closed the openings and backed away and just as fast stopped.

"My, my Mister Reaper, to what do I owe the pleasure of you being here?" he said as a Death Psyche pass through him. He showed no reaction except for the slight rise of his eyebrow and the smirk that took his face.

"I could smell you from far away. Go away, filthy demon. I will not have a demon roaming around without a collar while I am doing my investigation."

Sebastian's smirk grew and he slowly turned towards William, knowing that any suspicious movement could very well injure him –not kill of course— and turned his smirk into his innocent smile. "Mister William, I am here merely on my master's order. Surely we could strike some kind of deal?"

William only adjusted his glasses but Sebastian knew it was a 'you're below me but go on'.

"How about I never eat souls in your area ever again if you could just let me go for an hour?" he said, thinking that he could eat souls somewhere else. True, he had eaten souls in the shinigami's territory and yes, most of them somehow had quite the nice taste to it but it was just an area.

William moved his glasses again and this time, he narrowed his eyes at Sebastian and said, "Out of the question. Demons tempts with sugar-coated word and after that leaves them hanging and strands them in the abyss."

Sebastian sighed. 'Shinigami's are so stubborn.'

Suddenly the sound of light footsteps reached his ear, making him turned around. There it was Mikan, walking all confident to him. He could see that she was not worried she would be caught and he guessed that confidence stems from her definite training. How intriguing.

That thought was momentarily disturbed when he heard a barely distinguished gasp from behind. He swung back his gaze to the shinigami who was staring past him in shock. Sebastian took a stepped back and watched as William stared at Mikan like she was a ghost while she was giving him a look of again, questions. His demonic brain quickly began filling his head with questions. Sebastian opened his mouth, ready to ask when Mikan suddenly cuts him off.

"Hey Mister Shinigami, what are you doing here?"

If someone had replaced William with a statue, Sebastian doubt there would be much different. Except maybe the statue would be less ugly than the real one.

William snapped his head at Mikan and threw her a suspicious look. "How do you know about us, human? I don't smell any distinctive smell from you so you're a human." William finally looked like he had regained his composure and in a split second, his Death Psyche was cutting it close to Mikan's cheek. Mikan didn't move at all. "Tell me."

The Wind User continued to meet William's gaze and even smiled. "I'm a human who's not stupid, Mister Shinigami. Don't worry; think of me like you do of Ciel. Ciel knows about you too." The fact that her words portrayed that she had no doubt of what she was stating got the gears in Sebastian head moving. This Institution of hers must be investigated if they knew about the existence of shinigami. He would have to let the Young Master know about this too. But for now, he'll keep on watching.

"You must be one of those Institution students then if you know about us. Why are you out of that filthy place, girl?"

Mikan's smile got wider. "A rebellion."

The shinigami didn't look shocked. "I expected that."

"And you expected right."

William's staring eyes seemed to examine her and then he said, "What are you doing here?"

"Me and Sebastian are searching for some clues for _our_ investigation." Apparently, she must have heard their earlier talks. Sebastian raised an internal eyebrow and vowed to ask her after this.

A silence grew between the two who continued to stare at each other. William with his judging gaze and Mikan with her silent smile and odd giddiness. An indefinite time passed and as if some kind of signal appeared, the two broke eye contact, instigated by William who turned to Sebastian with a look that said 'you're-below-me-and-now-I'm-talking-to-you'.

"Since she is here, you may go on with your order like the dog you are. At least you have a collar, even though your original master is not here." William gave her another soul-searching stare and turned away. Within seconds, he was back into his tent.

Once Sebastian heard the definite sound of rustling of a bed, he walked towards Mikan who still had that odd smile on her face. "Did you find anything?"

Like a switch being turned on, Mikan's smile was gone and she shook her head. "Nope. I didn't find it. All the tents that I went to were just tents for people. They must be important in the circus because most of them were the people I saw in the show. They must be the kind of really good ones to get a single tent all to them. I wonder if…" Mikan began trailing off, looking to the sky while not really looking at it.

Sebastian on the other hand felt good. At least the clues would be on his side of the search and thus would eliminate the possibilities that his search would be fruitless, something that he never had to deal with but something he had…trouble dealing with.

* * *

They had restarted their search for the needed clues. It was hours away before it was a decent time for normal humans to wake up. So far they had finished searching all the tents on Sebastian's side except for one.

Sebastian and Mikan were coming near to the only tent left when Mikan stopped him by a gesture of the hand. She put a finger to her lips when it looked like he was about to say something and tilted her head. Sebastian watched as she closed her eyes in concentration and decided to ask later.

A few minutes passed and all the while Sebastian was waiting patiently. He knew that whatever the girl was doing it was for a purpose and she knew not to be distracted by frivolous things so it must be important. Though it surprised him a bit that _he_ didn't notice it.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, she opened her eyes and gave Sebastian an excited smile. "Sebastian, I've got something!"

_Obviously_.

He waited for her to continue and she didn't disappoint him.

"The wind told me that a guy, Joker if I'm not mistaken, told this one girl, probably Bee, Bay, Bes –something that starts with a B— that he was going to meet Father! The girl said they should stop doing whatever it is that this 'Father'," she said while quoting "orders them to do and she asked him to leave the circus with her. I think she likes him but I don't know for sure. What do you think Sebastian? Do you think she loves him? I think she do—"

"Mikan, the mission," he interrupted.

"Oh yeah."

He nearly let out a sigh then. Mikan was reliable but there had been times when she proved to be a scatterbrain worse than Finnian sometimes.

"Right. Anyway, this guy Joker said something about 'crossing over a mountain'. I don't know what that's about."

Sebastian gave her a narrowed look that told her to keep on going when he knew that she was about to ramble off goodness knows where. Mikan took this look as a warning and nodded.

"And then they said some stuff and it sounded like he had to go to see this 'Father' to give his usual reports. Then there were some sounds that sounded like hugging and he said that they 'can't turn back now'. Then he was off and she cried. It sounds to me cried a lot." Mikan nodded her head in sympathy yet somewhat not feeling any at all.

Sebastian nodded to himself and smiled. Looks like he had found a way where he no needs to go to the tent. But just to be safe...

"Miss Mikan, please scan the tent a bit and then when you are finished, wait for me on top of the tower where we were okay?"

Mikan lose the mock sympathy look and gave her soon-to-be-usual-questioning look. "Where are you going?"

"To find our potential tip off."

After all, what was better than a willing and weak human ready to spill her secrets to a demon?

* * *

He appeared on top of the tower about an hour later to the sight of Mikan sleeping on the roof while slightly floating. It was a good thing she was hidden well or else the city of London, at least the ones who have time or the idiots, would be thrown into frenzy of a sleeping, floating girl on top of the tower.

He kneeled beside the sleeping girl and gently shook her shoulders. He barely got passed the second shook when she snapped her eyes opened and threw him back onto his back. Sebastian gasped and was about to question her when a pair of hand began circling itself around his neck. He didn't outright respond to this and instead stared into the wide eye of the brunette.

"Miss Mikan, are you alright?"

The girl on top of him didn't respond. The only thing he got was a confused look on her face, as if she expected another face in front of her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sebastian. Do you remember me?"

She had a more focused confused, like she was confused of the whole thing. Sebastian didn't take the moment to get up, knowing that she had the power to cut him up into tiny pieces. Even though he wouldn't die from that, he certainly wouldn't be up and about from that soon enough. Being a weak butler for such a troublesome master was a troublesome matter in itself.

"Sebastian…Ciel…" Her eyes seemed to slowly shine with recognition. Slowly but surely, she began came to sense of self. Sebastian let it happen gradually and naturally, content in a way he hadn't in a long time in this position. As soon as he thought of that, he threw it away at the back of his mind. To be reminded of that was ridiculous.

Finally, he was released from the cage of hands and was slowly lifted by nothing till he was on his feet. He ignored her fear to the whole matter and went ahead to use his magic to straighten his clothes. When he was done, he raised his eyes to lock it with the scared girl in front of him.

"Miss Mikan, are you feeling well right now?"

He watched as she looked to left and right and finally to him. Her eyes were still wide but now instead of with confusion and a bit of fear of something; it was because she was afraid of his reaction. Lucky for her, he was used to this.

Her hands began clutching to her hairs like a life line, making it all wild and disheveled that he just can't stop but to think it reminded him of—

_"Sebastian!"_

_He looked to his side and—_

"Mister Sebastian, please don't get mad. I beg of you, I'll do better! Please, please don't be angry with me!" Her hands were off her hair and were now on top of her head, as if she was afraid of being beaten in the head, as if she was used to it.

Sebastian snapped out of his reverie and kneeled in front of the scared girl that just now started to look like the little girl she was instead of a confident assassin. "Miss Mikan, stand up. A servant of the Phantomhive, even a temporary one, should not be on his or her knees like some kind filthy being. Come. The master will be expecting us."

At first, he wasn't sure if she heard him considering the hand covering her head also covered her ears but then she released her head and stared into him, still scared of the punishment she had guessed she would get. Sebastian got up from his kneeling position and let out a hand. She stared at the hand for a long time before hesitantly taking it.

"Come on, Miss Mikan. When we arrive at the townhouse, I shall prepare you hot milk with some honey. How does that sound?" He used his charming smile as he did with Ciel when he had one of his nightmares.

She didn't answer yet she didn't let go of his hand. Because of his and her height, it made her look short but he guessed she didn't even notice she was still holding onto his hand.

Sebastian truly let out a sigh and nudged forward with his hand. Soon they began jumping from one building to another. It was a few hours till dawn so they had enough time to slowly travel to the townhouse.

"With lots of honey please, Sebastian."

He smiled and noted that the hand in his tightened but never answered. After all, cavities are bad for children.

* * *

When they arrived at the townhouse, Sebastian stopped by the kitchen with Mikan in tow. They trailed in the house quietly, knowing that Souma had a keen ear and him knowing about their night escapades could be detrimental because everyone knows if it wasn't life threatening to Souma, the Indian butler would tell his 'God' everything.

While she wait as Sebastian whipped up some hot milk and honey, Sebastian was off wondering again in the revelation that was followed by Beast –yes, he recognized and memorized her from their brief encounter during the circus show. It was fascinating how human could be so truthful and so lip-loose when dealing with sadness and grief.

How fascinating.

The sound of the pot bubbling with milk shook him from his thoughts and he quickly turned the fire off, pours the milk into a cup and added some honey into it.

He placed the milk in front of her and she took gratefully. He watched as she sipped into it and nearly laughed when it showed that she had mustache milk. Mikan seemed to notice it and quickly raise her hand to wipe it away with her sleeve when Sebastian gently shoved a napkin into her hand.

"Wiping with ones clothes unless in dire circumstances is unbefitting of a lady. Since you are a temporary servant and also guest of the Phantomhive, you must learn the necessary manners to avoid the public from talking ill of the Phantomhive."

She nodded her understanding and began wiping the mustache milk. While she finished her milk, Sebastian did the dishes a bit and also Mikan's cup when she was finish of it. When he was done, he turned around, ready to escort her to her room as befitting of a butler when he saw that she was already asleep on the table. The milk had definitely worked its way into her exhaustion from the day.

He chuckled at the entire of it. The question he had planned to ask earlier could wait and so he moved closer to her. In one swift lift, she was in his arms, cradled like a lover would be. Sebastian closed the light to the room and in the dead of the night, carried her back to her room.

* * *

"She has met with the Shinigami. This was not calculated. It seemed the Shinigami still remembers her," the deep voice man said, the sound of cups clinking surrounding him.

The one with young girly-boy voice chuckled. "That idiot William wouldn't notice a thing. He'll be too busied by his mission and by the time he's done, the matter would be put away so far behind him that he wouldn't remember it."

"Shouldn't we have a backup plan? This was _your_ idea and if this goes on, _you_ would have the most to lose."

"Whatever."


	11. Waiting For The Thread To Snap

Chapter 11

He hated his life. To say he wanted to burn every single person inside the Institution was an undestatement. He wanted them to burn on a fucking stake, he wanted to to skin them inch by inch, he wanted to hear the screams eminating from their burned lungs, he wanted to see them suffer, he wanted to see them on their knees and begging for his mercy and most of all, he wanted them dead. The burning anger was always bubbling over the surface and it always got him into trouble. He couldn't help it. He just wanted them dead. All that had happened to him were their faults. If it weren't for them, he would still have a family to go home to, a sister he could tease mercilessly and he would lead a normal life like any other Alice.

But then came her.

Mikan Sakura.

He remembered going down to sneak to the kitchen for something and then accidentally losing his way because of the darkness. He couldn't use his power or else he would definitely be caught. There was a sensor among them, a girl by the rumors, and unfortunately, that sensor wasn't on their side. He had taken a wrong turn then and that's what it happened. That's when he saw her. The first time he saw her, it was her being in a man's arms, probably one of the guards. She had the mark or tears on her face and she was frowning in her sleep. She shifted a lot while she was being held and he knew that they had drugged her to keep her from fighting against them. What had they done to her family? Did they tortured her parent like they did to his? Did they make them scream and forced her to listen to it? She looked fragile, like a spun glass that was just waiting to be broken. It was...sad and pitiful. But neither emotion was useful or helpful and he turned his back and moved on.

It was a while before he saw her again. In fact, it was about half a year before anyone ever saw her again. When he saw her, he knew she had changed.

He was in a class (apparently the Institution thought it was funny to teach them the basics of math and science while teaching them how to kill someone effectively) and just like every other time, he ignored the 'teacher' in front and just played with his nail or sleep. This time, before he could fall asleep like every time he did when the math teacher open his stinking mouth, the whole class heard a knock. The door opened and a man, probably another one of those damned bastards, walked in with a tiny child trailing after him. He lifted his head and he saw what he always knew he would see.

She had circles under her eyes, her eyes were red with either tears or lack of sleep, her skin was at best ghostly and her entire body was shivering. His eyebrows lowered at the pathetic scene. A naive person would think that she was cold but the Institution was never cold. It was always kept warm. Her body couldn't have shivered from the temperature and his heart betrayed him by breaking at the pitiful sight in front of him. He knew those shivers and it definitely wasn't the light when he saw a marks of injuries littered on her arm. He also knew that she didn't get the bruise on her cheek from falling down. He knew what they had done but as always, pity gets you no where. So once again, he turned his back against her.

The next time he saw her, a month had passed and he was in the 'play room' with Ruka while Imai was working over one of her assignments. They had just gone over some intensief 'exercise' and was trying to lose the tremor on their whole body. Then she walked in, her hands folded in front of her, and sat on the floor.

She just sat there, her eyes glued to the floor. He forced himself not to run over and check her body for every single injury she might have had and closed his eyes. Ruka looked at her curiously while Imai kept on doing her work. There were nobody else in the room yet it felt like there were hundreds of eyes staring at them, just waiting for someone to break the ice. But the three were known for not getting involved with the other kids so they just waited in silence for somebody to say something.

"Can I join you?"

Her voice, so small, so hopeful, so fragile spoke out. He suppressed the cry of relief that threatened to burst from his throat and said in the most bored voice he could muster, "Do whatever you like."

He didn't see it but he could practically feel her smile from where he was sitting on the floor.

From then, the girl never left. She stuck to their group, going to them for everything, from asking question about something she didn't understand to telling them about all her daily activities (which wasn't all that much different from theirs) and to telling them about what happened. About how her family was secluded, how one night when she was scared and wanted to go to her parents, her maid was killed in front of her eyes and she was taken away from everything she knew in the dead of night. The next thing she knew was waking up in a white, white room.

* * *

He woke up to the smell of hospital; all medicine like and the smell of decay. He forced his eyes to open and through the blurriness, he could see the make out of a person, blond hair who was leaning towards him, his mouth opening and closing. He could make out the sentences but he knew the tone; soft and completely childish.

Before he could call out, he felt his throat tingling. Then, all of a sudden, his throat was burning. If felt like there were sands rolling around in his throat while being roasted at the same time. "Wa..ter..."

He felt someone lift his head up and felt something being pressed onto his lips. Cool liquid slowly trolled down his throat and it felt like a godsend. He tried to make it faster though, he tried to grab for the glass that holds his rescue but the voice interrupted him. Why? His throat was still burning even though it was slowly cooling but then the voice reprimanded. He must have given what seemed to be like a nod and the voice calmed down again to its soft tone while the figure slowly worked back to keeping the glass there on his lips, keeping the liquid from burning his throat.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the burning stopped and the glass was slowly lifted from his lips. His head was gently put down again and he sighed. "Thanks, Ruka."

"You're welcome, Natsume."

He heard the sound of the chair scraping against the floor, being dragged nearer and nearer to him until it stopped. He knew Ruka must be sitting by his bedside right now, as always. Usually, he would be accompanied by Mikan. Mikan...

"I heard you got a mission outside."

It wasn't exactly a question so he didn't answer it.

"What were you trying to do Natsume? You should have known that if you tried to take off from your Guardian, you'd be struck down dead in a second. You're being reckless again, Natsume and it's not helping anybody right now."

He kept his mouth shut and opened his eyes. Ruka was looking at him with _those_ eyes; disappointed but understanding. He didn't like the look. He never did. It made him feel like he was some sort of child who was being scolded-yet-not by his mother. It never felt right.

He turned his eyes away from him and stared out the window. He could see that it was dark and it was raining though he couldn't hear it. He kept staring out the window, not really feeling like adding to whatever Ruka had said. He wasn't in the mood for it. As he stared out the window, he heard Ruka sighed yet there were no sounds of the chair scraping against the floor. After a few minutes, Ruka sighed again but this time it didn't even put a dent in his thoughts because as he stared out the window, he wondered if Mikan was seeing the same thing as he was.

* * *

Mikan gasped as she woke up.

Her eyes ran across her room, frantically searching for any traces of white, any traces of being locked up in her room again. When she didn't find any, she breathed in. Instantly, her head was filled with a rush of blood and she slumped back onto the bed. Her eyes were wide open and it stared openly at the ceiling in her room. It wasn't fascinating but it was the best view in the room.

"Miss Mikan, the Young Master is requesting your presence for breakfast. Are you ready?" said Sebastian from the other side of the door. A jolt of electricity ran across her brain but it was quickly gone as soon as it came. She frowned. What was that?

"Miss Mikan, did you hear what I had just mentioned of?"

She quickly stumbled out of her thoughts and said, "Yes! Tell him I'll be right there!"

"Very well." Then she heard the sound of footsteps slowly walking away.

She let out a sigh and stared out the window as the rain poured down. Now was not not the time to ponder on the behavior of her thoughts. Sebastian's promised scones were waiting for her.

* * *

Ciel stared out the window. It was raining heavily and the sky was as dark as it could be. He hated rains. He hated the way the water from the sky smashed itself against the ground. He hated that he couldn't go out because of it. He hated the wetness that came with it whenever he tried to go out. He even hated thinking about it. What was so nice about it anyway? The scientist or the researchers could say whatever they want about how nice it is but he didn't buy it. Rains were dreadful and that was likely never to change no matter what those science people spouted.

"Hey Ciel. Sorry for waiting for me."

Ciel pulled his eyes away from the sight in front of him and onto the girl who was taking her usual seat. Ciel narrowed her eyes at her. The girl he had fallen in love with? Was Souma taking opium when said that? He couldn't smell it. He must have been eating something weird then. How could he be in love with the crazy girl in front of him who was happy to see a _scone?_ How could he fall in love when the girl was probably the most uncute, unstable, unmannerly unlikable, uncute, uneducated, un everything! He could not have fallen in love. Besides, those stupid girls kept saying when you're in love, your heart beats faster and all that nonsense. His heart never beats faster when she was around him. Well, there was that day when she came into his room-No! That did not count! He was a gentleman and she was a lady (as absurd as that sounded in his head). For her to be so close to him either proved that she was an idiot or she was unmannerly. Both traits he or any other person his status would not find in a suitable wife.

Yes, he was not a in love with her.

Ciel took a peak at the happy look she had as she was eating a scone. He felt something on his chest, a tight feeling but his heart wasn't jumping like mad.

Yes, he was _not_ in love with her.

* * *

Sebastian sighed as he slowly lay his body on the lumpy think human called beds. Miss Mikan was a bundle of energy for the day, unusually so today but it didn't matter to him. Humans were fickle creatures yet so..animalisitic. It was fascinating considering that the humans claimed the were the best race they were. It was absurd yet also laughable. He had seen many race in his life, normal and not, and the humans were certainly not the best. In fact, with their disgusting emotions and stupid conscious, they were the lowest of the low. It doesn't matter. Thinking about such things never brought good feeling in his heart or the headache in his head.

Lately, he had been smelling a strange scent. A sweet scent yet there was a layer of decay underneath it. There were also layers and layers of guilt and hatred. All the characteristic of the smell of _kaylu_, a flower that can only be found by in deepest layer of Hell. It was a flower of sin and damnation and the scent lasted for a long time though it is not strong. But that was impossible. The flower dies in the presence of human and the only people that could have even smelled the slightest of it had to have been near proximity of it in the last one hundred years. To his knowledge, not many ventured to that part of Hell and only less even came close to the flower's residence because the flower, though small and weak, was volatile when it comes with contact with touch. Only one person in his existence had ever actually loved the flower and can actually touch it without immediate death. Could-

No.

That person died a few hundred years ago. There was no way that person could have lived. He was there when that person died. It couldn't have been possible. The way that person died should have ensured even the strongest demon would not survive, let along a low ranking demon such as that person. It was impossible. But then, why would he be smelling it now? Even since that person died, he had stayed away from the _kaylu_ field, never to come near them again out of principle. So what? What had changed?

He had started smelling them in the time when Miss Azure showed up. It was faint but it was there. But she was a human, albeit in a body that was not hers but it was impossible to even imagine a mere, pathetic human venturing into Hell and even more to reach the _kaylu_ field. So what was it? What was making him crazy with the scent?!

His fangs fully tore from his gum and his claws unsheathed itself. His chest was furiously moving up and down, so taken by his anger. He swiped the thing called pillow and also the bed. When the anger didn't fade, he growled. He wanted to kill someone, he wanted to maim, he wanted to hurt. His eyes shifted towards the door. The humans were asleep. Could he kill them?

A warm feeling emanated at his hands and he growled again, this time louder than before. Pathetic. He was bound by a bothersome contract and orders from the human. At that thought, his anger grew tenfold. He stepped away from the door and to the window. He snapped the window open and smashed away the steels that tried to keep him in here. Still, mangling that device was still not enough. This feeling...this anger...he hated it. He spend hundred of years taming it so why, by a mere pitiful scent that might not even be the damnable flower's scent, could affect him so much? He hates this. He hates everything about this.

He took off to the woods, jumping from branches to branches, uncaring if he broke any of them. He ran through the woods, his legs running as fast it could. He could hear an unusual rustling of the trees but his mind couldn't register it. He was too angry, too mad, too caught up in his thoughts. He needed to run. He needed to let all of this anger, at very least drained from him, so that he could attend to the outing he and that pathetic little human along with the girl was going to tomorrow.

As he ran, his nose picked up that scent again. Only this time it was more potent with his nose enhanced from the semi-transformation. He didn't want to follow the scent, that sweet, delightful smell but he couldn't help it. He had missed it...

He ran towards the scent. It wasn't very far away. He arrived there in less than a few seconds and arrived at a spot of the forest empty of trees. The girl, that pathetic girl was floating in the air with her eyes closed, her hands on her laps and her legs folded underneath her. She looked to be awake from the small movements of her lips. Was she meditating? It doesn't matter. The scent was potent at this moment. It was the only thing his mind could pick up. He let his foot stepped onto the ground and walked slowly to the girl. As he got closer, the smell became more overwhelming. It was threatening to snare all of his senses. He had to control himself from attacking the girl. He had to be careful. It was like a cat with a mouse. The cat has to be careful otherwise its prey would be gone in a second. This was a chase.

And he was loving it.

"Come here, human."

The human snapped it's eyes open and the human slowly lowered itself onto the ground. The human stood tall, its hands curling at it's side and the demon narrowed at the darkness in those eyes and stand. He didn't like it. It felt like it was mocking him, like it was challenging him. It didn't suit the human and it was making the playful feeling inside him gone. He wanted to swipe that look off its face, that cold look that was looking at him like he was a monster. Like he was in the wrong. He growled loudly now. His foot stepped onto the ground and he was gone. To the human, it must have been a blur but not for him.

He tackled the human to the ground, like a cat that pounded on its prey and trapped it underneath it to play. The human didn't even bat an eyelash. It just took it on stride. It felt like it was mocking him again. He tightened the hands caging the human's. Blood seeped through the wounds that he claw makes and feeling of possessiveness clawed at his chest. He sniffed the blood and slowly licked it. It tasted sweet, tangy and...scared.

He growled, the sound rumbling his chest. "You? Why are you scared?" His voice, so deep, so tainted, so dark. He loved it.

The human didn't answer. He can't have that. His hands tightened, almost painfully now to the human from the slight wince the human gave out. He grinned. He wanted more of that pain. More of it.

"Tell me, human or I will definitely kill you."

The human still didn't answer. He could smell the fear radiating from it's pores yet the human held its ground. It was keeping its mouth shut. Fear or not, he loved seeing it. It showed just how pathetically stupid the humans are. He wanted more of them.

He slowly brought the bleeding hands to his face and with a glance to the human's face, he sank in his fangs. The human underneath writhed and struggled but he kept his legs down on the human's and gave a warning growl. The human didn't stop and he sank his fangs even deeper. He felt something cut his back and knew the human must have used its power to try and stop him. How foolish. He was powerful tonight for the first time in a long while. His powers had been trapped for a long time from its full potential. To him, the cut at his back was the equivalent to a paper cut. It was just making him angrier and more annoyed. He sank his teeth a bit deeper and finally blood flowed into his mouth. He drank it slowly, savoring every taste of it. It tasted rich, exotic, and sinful. There were a lot of taste mixed in the blood and though that would raise a few suspicion, he didn't care. He wanted more of it andhHe was careful not to let even a drop of it slipped from his lips.

He took more deep gulps, still savoring the taste. He hadn't taste blood in years, only souls and for this to be the first in a while, it was certainly tempting to drink it all but he steeled himself against it. He still held some common sense. This human, her blood sang to him. He wanted more of it and for a long time. He knew he had to keep the human alive. He had to keep it bonded to him so that other demons would know that it was taken. Some would question his motive but he cared less for their opinion than his pitiful duties. His mind was made up.

He took his fangs out, an odd sense of longing of wanting to sink his fangs in its hands again but he kept himself in control and stared at the dazed look in the humans eyes. Sometime when he was drinking, the human had stop rebelling. He let his body straightened though he kept his hands caging the human's. His back ached, the human must have done more than scratching while he was drinking but with the blood and the help of his power, it was nothing. What was more important was making the human his. No one could have her. No one.

He let his powers channeled to his hands. He freed one of them and brought it to his lips. He tore a vein from his wrist and watched as his deep black blood flow. He pressed the opened vein to the human's lips. The human, still somewhat aware of what's happening, tried to keep its mouth closed but he was stronger. He growled and forced his wrist to the human.

"No...I don't...want...it..."

He chuckled. He brought face close to the humans till they were close enough to kiss. "Shush, don't worry, human. You're mine now. And I won't let anything happen to you. Nobody else can have you. Don't worry, my sweet. I'll be keeping you all to myself and no one will touch what is mine. Do you understand?"

The human mumbled its reply.

The anger sparked again. His eyebrows went down and sent a binding spell to the human's hands before letting them go. He pressed his hand to the human's cheek and clutched at it. The human tried to resist but her mouth opened a bit. The blood from his wrist flowed into the humans mouth and when he was sure the human had a mouthful of it, he closed the mouth and pinched nose. It wouldn't do for the human to spit it out.

The human, though defiance, was weak and to his pleasure, swallowed the blood. His smiled, the first one since his anger spiked some time ago. There was some left over from the cheeks of the human and he licked away. He licked the other cheek as the human started falling asleep from the blood. He grinned. What a cute human he has now.

He let the binding spell go and listened as the the human's heartbeat slowed down to steady beats. When he was sure the human was down for the count, he lifted himself from it and brought it to his chest. He held the human close to chest. The feeling of possessiveness was back and it was stronger. He lifted his hands to the human's shirt and lifted it till the back was exposed. He could see the outline of the marking. It would take a few hours for the mark to complete.

He lifted his eyes to the sky and saw that they still about six hours before dawn would come. He would wait with his little human till then. While he waited, he studied _his_ human on every inch of its skin. The skin, unknown to human, was filled with scars. He angered at the thought of another human hurting what was his. They had no right. The human was his, not theirs. How dare they marred its skin with ugly scars. He would come for them one day and kill them all.

But, because of this, his little human would be strong. His little human wouldn't break as easily as the others. Maybe, she would even be strong enough to handle the change. Maybe, if he didn't kill her yet, he would change her to become a demon and possibly keep her powers. Yes, that was a great plan. Yes, he would change the human when the time comes for it. And they would live eternally away from the human society, a society that she would then be above than.

His thoughts went deep into this plan, hence he almost didn't notice the human stirring.

"Sebas...tian...what...did you...do...My back...feels...like...it's...on fire..."

Sebastian? Ah yes, the name the human called him. He didn't like the name, even less on her lips. "Shush...it's alright. You'll be mine and nothing of mine will suffer pain."

He held the girl with one hand and let the other creep onto her back. He let his powers soothed the pain of being marked and was glad to see the human falling asleep again. He grinned to himself as he tugged the girl tighter to his chest. He lifted the both of them off the filthy ground and walked back to the mansion. He tucked in his fangs and claws for other times and grinned.

Yes. This human was his and they would have to kill him before they get to her.

* * *

**Wow...I sort of didn't see that coming when I wrote this...But here you go. This is the last update till 26/11 when my final exams would end. Ugh...Biology and Calculus is destined to kill me. Thank you for reviews and I hope you guys really enjoyed this just as much as I did.**

**XOXO**

**Me.**


	12. Branded Again

Chapter 12

She felt something crept beneath her shirt on her back and she wanted to struggle, to fight. Nothing good ever came from those gestures. All it always did was brought her more pain. But to her surprise, instead of suffering even more pain, a cool sensation seeped through her skin, bring the flame on her back to an end. She wanted to cry in relief but she was still too weak. She could feel the darkness threatening to sweep her off her feet again and she wanted to fight. She wanted answers now that the pain was consuming every space of her mind. But she felt her eyes drooping back into submission. The demon...he must be using his powers to push her back to sleep. She couldn't do anything and had no choice but to give in this time.

The next time she woke up, everything was so blurry. Everything in front of her looked like a giant mass of goo and her body felt so cold. It was a big contrast to the feeling she felt earlier. She groaned and forced herself awake. She tried to move from wherever she were but couldn't. She looked down to her waist and found a pair of hands circling them hence keeping her locked. She twisted her back, wincing as she did so, and stared right into the eyes of the demon.

Anger flared up in her as the memories of yesterday began flowing in.

* * *

She was in the forest, hoping to smell the earth after the rain and was also attempting to meditate by chanting the spell to one of her deadliest attack. When she felt a strange presence near her, she ignored it in the favor that whatever it was, it wouldn't be able to come an inch from her without being severely hurt or even dead. However, Lady Fate had never been kind to her because lo and behold, it was Sebastian who showed up while calling her 'human'. But it wasn't actually Sebastian was it? The Sebastian she saw that night had fangs, claws and dark aura literally pouring out of him. It circled around him as if it were dancing and it made the manic look on his face even worse. It actually scared her for a moment before she gathered herself into a silent confidence.

When Sebastian asked her again, she stood her ground and refused to answer. She felt like that was the right thing to do. Sebastian was obviously not himself and if she were to give an answer he didn't want to hear, she could possibly be dead, Alice or not. When she refused to answer his again, she could see anger blazing in his eyes and forced herself not to step back in fear. However, it was all for naught when Sebastian suddenly disappeared only to tackle her on the ground. In a split second moment, he had her legs caged underneath his and her hands being held above her head. He was so close to her, enough that people might think they were serenading underneath the moonlight. Even so, she tried her best to look strong, to not let any emotions but confidence taking over her.

Then everything went downhill from when he licked her blood. Persona had told him that demons could taste emotions when drinking their prey's blood. It was good for them since it was sometime useful to know what their prey would be feeling when being pounced on. Nevertheless, it still didn't excuse his behavior of ignoring his wish and went straight for the money prize by sucking the blood inside her.

It was painful at first. His fangs were deep in her wrist and every time she tried to struggle, he would unconsciously sink his fangs deeper and it hurt so much. Though, as her body began to feel less heavy, the pain was less and less till it left a slight haze in her head. She finally stopped struggling and just waited for it to be over. She was even about to close her eyes but then felt his fangs being pulled out of her wrist. The action hurt her but the daze was more powerful.

After that, everything was a blur. She remembered him pressing something wet to her lips, possibly anything and she pressed her mouth shut against it. A hand clutched at her cheek, forcing it to open against her will and as soon as she felt the inside of her mouth full of that liquid, the demon closed her mouth and nose and it forced her to swallow. She cursed him again for the nth time of the night.

Then, the torture she thought had ended didn't. Her whole body started to feel like it was on fire. Her blood was literally boiling inside her and her mouth gasped for air, water, something to quench the fire in her throat, her lungs, her head, _everywhere_. She desperately needed ice everywhere _especially_ her back. It was burned as if being roasted in an open fire. It was painful, sickening and uncomfortable. Every time she moved a muscle, every single joint in her body ached. It was absurd and it pissed her to hell yet she couldn't bring herself to care. She just wanted whatever it was that was causing it to stop.

In the midst of her torture, she felt something holding her back. She knew those hands. "Sebastian, what did you do? My back feels like it's on fire," she groaned, her voice coming out in rasped. She couldn't remember what happened but she knew Sebastian was in it. That doesn't matter though. All that matter was the burning, searing pain on her back, inside and out. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry but she didn't have the energy to do either. It was as if somebody was sucking the energy right out of her body and turned her into a ball of goo, too weak to even scream.

"Shush...it's alright. You'll be mine and nothing of mine will suffer pain."

* * *

Now, all she wanted to do was kill the demon behind her and stake his body where everyone would see how damnable he was. She about to do just that as she twisted her body to look at him but out of nowhere, she was flipped onto her stomach and her shirt was lifted off her. Before she could say anything those, she felt him leaning down towards her back and _nuzzling_ it.

What the hell?

Not only was the action scary and humiliating, it was also extremely weird. "Sebastian, what the hell are you doing? And what, in God's name, did you do to me last night?"

No answer came from him. She tried again, this time putting a little bit curiosity into her tone and hoped the demon would take it as interest rather than absolute disgust but even that didn't work. She began contemplating just shoving wind-like arrow through his neck but quickly discarded the thought. She would not attack a person like a cheater. She was better than that. Actually, it was more like she _believes_ she's better than that. She wasn't stupid enough to think that if push comes to shove, she wouldn't maim him in his 'sleep'.

Still, back to the situation in hand...

"Sebastian, stop nuzzling my back and let me go. Or I will spike your throat with air and I will make sure you die from more than that. So let. Me. Go."

A hand came up and slowly patted her hair. "Calm down there, Mikan. I mean no harm to you. You're mine now. I will tell you what you need to know. I will answer what you want to know. All you have to do is ask, my sweet." The hand kept petting her hair, as if to show that he was caring and loving but she wasn't buying it. She may not be DI01 but she was told of Demons too. She knew demons always lie. It was in their nature to lie and to deceive until their prey succumbed to their charms. When their prey is in their grasp, they'll drag them to the deepest part of the abyss and kept them there. The prey would never feel happiness anymore, or sadness, or pain or anything. The only thing they'll ever remember is the memories of the touch of the demon.

But somehow, deep in her heart, she _knew_ that Sebastian wouldn't lie. She didn't know where the sudden confidence came from but it was there. She couldn't explain it. It was if someone was whispering at her ear that Sebastian could be trusted. He could be trusted _not to lie to her_. Or at the very least, not changing what was-

_What the hell?_

"Sebastian, what did you do to me?" She will have her answer and will or won't, he will give her them.

A soft chuckle emanated from her back, making her shiver from the sheer coldness of it. "Oh my sweet, how I adore your courage. To answer your question, yesterday, I simply made you mine."

"What 'mine' are we talking about here?" She knew her voice wavered but she ignored it.

Sebastian chuckled again but didn't address the hesitation in her voice. "When I tasted your blood last night, I knew from that moment that I would keep you forever by my side. Indeed, I gave you my blood yesterday to bind your very being to me, to make you mine. I branded you with my mark and waited with you until it is engraved in your very soul. From that moment on, you are essentially my servant though some would argue you are the equivalent to a mate. No matter, from now on, you shall not leave my side. You will not be harm by other demons who wish for your death. In all honesty, you are now under my protection till the end of time or at least, _your_ time."

Mikan froze.

_Forever? _

_Mine? _

_Branded?_

_Servant?_

_Protection?_

_MINE?_

The words kept spinning in her head, twisting into a big jumble and making her dizzy. A distant sound of wheezing could be heard but she paid no heed to it. Her mind kept playing Sebastian's words over and over again, not willing to believe anything he just said. How could this happen? How could one night of supposed relaxation turned into a night of binding and branding? Was this going to be a pattern? Her being the Institution's, her being the Phantomhive's and her being _the mate of a demon? _It was all so messed up and was making her sick.

In the background, Sebastian watched as his 'mate' hyperventilate. He noticed her eyes getting wider and her mouth dropping a bit. It didn't matter. The mark on her back would stop her before she could faint from the lack of air, hence he wasn't worried. In all demonic honesty, he didn't remember that binding someone to him would make that someone a mate and truthfully, he was a bit disgusted by the idea of it. Mates were a hindrance. They were, a lot of time not worth his protection and was a royal pain of his time. Out of living thousands and thousands of years, he had only over had three mates and the first two died by his hand. The third died out of sheer luck. To sum it up, his history with mate was not good and he preferred it that way.

Yet, if it was this human underneath him, the disgust was not as potent as before. True, it was a bit annoying to have a mate after what happened before but at least, this mate could protect herself. If anything were to happen and they were attacked, he need not run to her to protect her. Rather, she might ever protect him though he knew it would never come to that. He was the Wielder of the Demonic Magic. To be _helped_ when he could win was a disgrace in its own. Especially to be helped by a mere _human_.

All in all, his decisions were right in taking this human to be his mate.

* * *

**Hey guys. Here you go, the 12th chapter. I couldn't really stop writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed. I am currently halfway done with the 4th chapter for the Alice and Wizard and I hope you guys can be a bit patient (though I'm not in any position to talk about that) because lo and behold, MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED. THIS SATURDAY!**

**I'm trying not to die from the preparations that has to be done in the next two days so wish me luck!**

**=D**

**PS: I got a B+ for my Mathematics and an 89 for my English. I got a 56 for my Civic. 78% of the fault has to be blamed on my teacher. He didn't tell us how to do our folio. Conclusion? All of us got BELOW C+.**


End file.
